The USB Promoter Group announced in a press release that the next version of USB will be able to reach speeds of up to 80 Gbps.
The new version of USB 4.0 will use the USB-C connector and will be able to have ” Up to 80 Gbps operation, based on a new physical layer architecture, using existing 40 Gbps USB Type-C passive cables and newly-defined 80 Gbps USB Type-C active cables”.
Given USB’s penchant for being excellent at backward compatibility, Joe Balich a spokesperson for the USB Implementers Forum told The Verge that using a USB 4.0 rated for 40 Gbps transfers now, it would still be able to transfer at the higher speeds in the future. All the tech specs haven’t been made clear by the USB-IF just yet.
However, more details about how this was made possible will only be revealed in November during the USB DevDays events, which are scheduled for November 1 and 2 in Seattle and November 15 and 16 in Seoul, South Korea.
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“Once again following USB tradition, this updated USB4 specification doubles data performance todeliver higher levels of functionality to the USB Type-C ecosystem,” said Brad Saunders, USB Promoter Group Chairman in the press release.
The USB Promoter Group consists of some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley like Intel, Apple, Microsoft, HP and Texas Instruments. It has promised that the USB 4.0 version 2 will have an update for USB 3.2 which will push the older version’s transfer speeds over 20 Gbps. However, it is going to be a few years before the rest of the tech world and manufacturers catch up with the new standard after it is released. But, members of the USB Promoter Group will likely begin adoption with their own products.
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Due to how fast the new version of USB 4.0 allegedly is, spectators and experts have been joking about the fact that it should not have been called USB 4.0 version 2, but simply USB 5.