After the release of USB 3.2, its subsequent rebranding efforts and complex specifications like 3 different transfer rates, USB 4 seems like a promising addition to the tech world.
With the release of USB 4, Intel will be fulfilling its promise of making Thunderbolt 3 royalty free. Even though the final draft of standards has not been made public, an initial draft has been released showing us what the USB 4 standard will offer.
What has Changed?
First things first, its transfer rate will be double the transfer rate of USB 3.2 Gen, which means 40 Gb/s, and it will also enable multiple data streams. Apart from this, USB 4 will ditch the type-A connector and use the type-C connector only. This means that your older USB devices will need an adapter to work with it, which is a bummer.
Moreover, Thunderbolt 3 is also added to the list of specifications, this means, all the Thunderbolt 3 devices will be supported by USB 4 products.
When is it Coming?
Based on the first draft of specifications, the release date is mentioned somewhere in mid-2019 but, practically speaking, the hardware will not be released anytime before 2020. It can go beyond that too, but we can be sure that we won’t see USB 4 any time soon.
Bottom line
After the backlash that USB 3.2 caused USB 4 is letting the steam out a little by promising the customers a hassle-free, all-in-one kind of hardware. At this point, we don’t exactly know what the technical details will be especially, how Thunderbolt 3 will be carried over but we have our fingers crossed.
