Like Lightning and MagSafe, the USB-C connector has no up or down
RULHQWDWLRQ/LQHXSWKHFRQQHFWRUSURSHUO\DQG\RXQHYHUKDYHWRÀLSLWRYHUWR
plug it in; the “right way” is always up. The standard cables also have the same
FRQQHFWRURQERWKHQGVVR\RXGRQ¶WKDYHWR¿JXUHRXWZKLFKHQGJRHVZKHUH
7KDWKDVQRWEHHQWKHFDVHZLWKDOOWKH86%FDEOHVZH¶YHEHHQXVLQJIRUWKHSDVW
\HDUV0RVWRIWKHWLPH\RXKDYHGL̆HUHQWFRQQHFWRUVDWHDFKHQG
USB-C AND USB 3.2: THE NUMBERS BENEATH THE PORT
Where USB-C gets tricky is in the numbers that get attached to the ports. The
most common speed that USB-C connectors are rated for is 10Gbps. (That
10Gbps is theoretically twice as fast as that of the original USB 3.0.) USB-C
ports that support this peak speed are called “USB 3.2 Gen 1x2.”
The minor wrinkle is that USB ports with 10Gbps speeds can also exist in the
original, larger shape (the USB Type-A rectangles we all know), and are dubbed
86%HQ[:LWKWKHH[FHSWLRQRIVRPHGHVNWRSVWKRXJKLW¶VPRUH
common to see 10Gbps-speed USB ports with Type-C physical connectors.
1RWH 6RPHROGHU86%&SRUWVVXSSRUWMXVWESVPD[LPXPVSHHGVVRLW¶V
important to look for a “USB 3.2 Gen 1x2” or “10Gbps” designation to verify that
a given USB-C port supports 10Gbps transfers. That said, all of these ports are
backward-compatible, just at the speed of the slowest element.