

There are four power and four ground pins, for example.

Some of these pins are redundant, to allow reversibility or increase reliability. In spite of its smaller size, the Type-C connector has 24 pins, exceeding the 4 pins of the original Type-A connector and the 9 pins of the USB 3 Type-A. With the coming of USB4, the new connector is a requirement. Unlike its predecessors, the plug is reversible there’s no wrong way to plug it in. Type-C will eventually replace all of them. The variety of connector types currently in use takes the “universal” out of the Universal Serial Bus. The use of Type-A has been declining for a long time, because it takes up too much space on a phone or an ultra-thin tablet. It will replace not only Type-A but the Mini-USB and Micro-USB connectors. The new standard is USB Type-C, also called USB-C. But no technology lasts forever, and eventually they’ll go the way of RS-232 and SCSI connectors. They had a strong affinity for Murphy’s Law: No matter which way you plugged them in, you got it wrong the first time. No one especially liked them, but they were simple and worked with all kinds of devices. USB Type-A connectors were everywhere for many years. ChargeIT! Minis – Compact High Power USB Power Delivery Chargers.
