There’s been a lot of talk that Apple invented USB-C, even though the company hasn’t made any official claims yet. The evidence is already compelling, but here’s another sign Apple had its hand in USB-C: It looks just like the company’s Cinema Display power cable.
Check out the comparison below:
The striking resemblance was spotted by Marc Robinson on Twitter. John Gruber revealed over the weekend that his well-informed sources told him “USB-C is an Apple invention and that they gave it to the standards bodies … and that the politics of such is that they can’t really say that.”
Other evidence that points to Apple as the inventor of what’s bound to become the new industry standard include a patent filed in 2013 describing a slim, reversible input/output electrical connector for transferring a variety of data types including HDMI, audio, USB and video. Other companies are free to use USB-C, with Google the first to announce its new Chromebooks will sport USB-C ports.
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
22 responses to “USB-C is a dead ringer for Apple’s Cinema Display power cord”
It’s also the same as the Mac Mini power connector, before they had the power supply built in.
Yep, just what the world needs is another USB connector. There is only the micro-B plug, UC-E6 proprietary, mini-B, standard-A plug, and standard-B plug. Not to be rude, but the point of connectors is to connect, not leave one looking for some adaptor.
It would indeed be fair to say that USB has been an evolving standard, in terms of its protocol and its connectors :)
Type C seems likely to be a fairly stable physical design, and by replacing both Type A and Type B at the same time, it dramatically simplifies everything – you’ll just need a USB cable and it’ll plug between any devices.
Not to be rude, but if we took your approach, every mobile device would have to have a full size Type B connector, which would be completely awful.
First, I think most mobile devices wouldn’t suffer much if they had a Standard A plug, but even then do we need THREE types of mini USB? Couldn’t we just use the Micro B or the Mini B? Second, I hardly see why printers must universally use the Standard B. The Standard A would be fine for printers and computers alike. The cables would then be reversible. Third, now we add Apple’s likely proprietary mini plug to the mix to give us FOUR minis. The only real point of Apple’s is so Apple can charge licensing fees, which almost no one will pay, so like the Lightning connector, we will have to have a group of adaptors to connect the Apple C to the Standard A and the Apple C to the Standard B, and so on a so forth.
Given there isn’t any benefit to the user community, I simply don’t understand why we should support this nonsense. Give me one good reason to have anything beyond Micro B and Standard A.
1. Type *A* for mobile devices?! A is huge! Nobody wants a giant A port on their slim mobile devices!
2. Micro B came about because Mini B (while thinner than A), was still too thick for slim mobile devices. Mini B is hardly used at all on new products, so it will be effectively irrelevant soon.
3. Even if you used A on both ends, we’d still all have to replace all our cables since nobody has those, also do earlier USB specs cope well with device-device connections? It may cause problems.
4. What proprietary Apple plug? They are using Type C on the new MacBook. Regular, standards-body Type C. There is no Apple variant that we know of. They’ve never done a custom USB port, AFAIK (unless we include the iPod shuffle, which cunningly re-used its headphone port for USB too)
5. Reasons to evolve beyond A/microB – reversible connectors, same connector on host & device (meaning we need new cables anyway), more pins are required to do things like simultaneous 4K video and 10Gb, microB is a terrible connector physically (especially the USB3.0 power variant).
Technology changes. Deal with it :)
1. I think something the size of an iPhone 6 or Galaxy s6 could handle a Standard A fine, but I think any of the minis would be fine. This fetish for ultra small simply doesn’t serve a purpose as all USB ports are thinner than most phones.
3. I certainly have cables with Standard A on both ends. I certainly think having that one cable would be better than needing the plethora we have today and we don’t need to make the situation worse. We could work to make it better.
4. The Apple C implementation is not a standard USB C as it supplies power to the laptop in vastly greater quantity than any USB implementation. One can’t plug a Standard C into the laptop with a Standard B into a printer on the other end and have power going to the laptop. The laptop will be running off the battery.
5. Reversible connectors is a reason to change? Really? That is your go to? Flipping the cable upside down on those rare occasions one doesn’t have it right is that hard?
Yes, technology changes and I am glad it does, but it doesn’t need to change for change sake. We should get something better, not merely different.
Yawn, dont you get it? It is called “USB”-C because the standards body approved it as a USB version. Apple and other companies worked on it, submitted it for approval as a standard.
So it is a ‘standard’ USB now.
Yes, reversible connectors are a reason to change. Once you use a reversible connector, you will be flipping mad trying to use a non-reversible again. There is no reason why a port should even start to have a single way to connect (up/down/whatever).
Your last para is simply bonkers. How is USB-C not better?!
The USB-C apple is using for the new MacBook is not proprietary. USB-C spec allows up to 100watts of power, the new MacBook will be using 29W. And you’re right, connecting an adapter to a printer which does not supply power over usb, will not charge the MacBook, I would assume that would be common sense. Just like people are used to connecting a USB to Mini/Micro/Lightning cable into a powerbrick to charge their phones/iPads, they’ll be doing the same thing with this laptop.
This is not another Device-End connection: this is the end that plugs into the computer and has the capacity to replace all the physical ports.
Um, yes, I understand that. So what? It still means I will need an Apple C USB to Standard B cable to connect the laptop to most printers (and can’t have the laptop connected to its power cable when I do this, so I will either need a hub that supports the supplying of power or switch back and forth between power and printing unless I have a WiFi-based printer which not always practical). I will need a Apple C cable to external DVD drive adaptor.
It is just one more unneeded and unnecessary connector added to already overcrowded field of pointless connector variation. Other than saving Apple 4¢ on adding another port, I do not see any value to the consumer. Even if the laptop is some way significantly lighter, which I doubt, that value will be overridden by the need to carry adaptors to connect this cockamamy connector port to anything else on the planet besides its own power supply (and not even be able to connect to Apple laptop power supplies made in the last ten years). Apple would help its consumers out by having several Standard A USB ports or, at the very least, a couple of Micro B ports.
*IF* Apple made this port a Standard A port that ALSO worked with its power supply, I could see reason for joy. For now, yech.
All of your arguments are invalid if no one is MAKING you buy a machine with this port.
Unfortunately, one is forced by changing OS and software requirements to change computers every now and then. I will admit I am still advocating for Apple to bring back AppleTalk (come to my canopy at the SF Gay Pride Parade at 555 Market Street to sign the petition this June) and I am still using an Early 2008 MacBook Pro because I think it is still better than what is out there, but even *I* will eventually have to move on and I loath the idea I will have to replace every connector I have because Apple is like a horny teenager with a Grindr account when it comes to going steady.
If we look at the facts, Apple has used USB Type A since 2001 and MagSafe since 2006. I think that’s a pretty good long relationship with power/data ports on their laptops. Thunderbolt you might be able to make a stronger argument about, but even that has been on Macs for 4 years now, and is only really used heavily by Prosumers and Professionals.
There’s no evidence that ThunderBolt is going away. It’s just not on the new MacBook.
Absolutely agreed. I expect TB to stick around on the Pro machines.
It’s pretty clear after reading your posts that you have no idea what you are taking about. That’s all.
Next time I’ll tweet right to you, Buster.
OMG!! I’m sure Apple also inventet light, power, can walk on water and and and.
No, but when they do invent something, it’s nice to recognize the innovators along side the innovation.
Just wait until next year, when Apple will invent “the circle” as the shape of the Apple Watch 2.0.
“Other companies are free to use USB-C, with Google the first to announce its new Chromebooks will sport USB-C ports.”
Apple was the first to announce the use of USB-C ports. You seem to fail to mention that at all.
I think it’s pretty clear he meant first among “other companies.”