Next year, the Universal Serial Bus He will meet us with us. Better known by its acronym USBits development began in the early 90s and The USB 1.0 specification was introduced in 1996with the aim of simplifying the connection and communication between devices and computers. Since then, the standard has evolved considerably, has been very adopted and incorporated great improvements in successive specificationsbeing the most recent USB 4.0launched in 2022.
To help distinguish each other, manufacturers associate each type of USB to certain colors. If you take a look at the back of your PC, where most USB ports are concentrated, you probably see some black, other blue, red, etc., since it is common for several types to live in a team. There is a big difference between using a USB port with one color or another when connecting a device.
Keep in mind that this distinction between colors is common in the industry, But all manufacturers do not always follow itso there may be cases in which it does not match, although they will be the least. In this article we will explain What corresponds to each color so you can take advantage of each device you connect. It should be noted that the most recent USB standard, 4.0, It is not associated with any colorso in this case it depends on the decision of the manufacturer that is one or the other. This classification applies to type USB connectors TOthe format of a lifetime, and not those of type C that mainly use mobiles and whose characteristics are independent of their color.
White USB (1.0)
If you have color USB ports whitesurely your computer has a few years. Corresponds to the specification USB 1.0which provides a transfer rate of 1.5 mbit/s (188 kb/s). Today, it serves to connect peripherals that require very little bandwidth, such as keyboards or mice.
USB Gray (1.1)
The next specification came in 1998. USB 1.1identified with color greyspeed up 12 mbit/s (1.5 mb/s). An achievement then, but that today falls short except for some peripherals, such as their predecessor.
USB Black (2.0)
With USB 2.0in 2000, came what they called “high speed”, which meant a sensitive improvement on USB 1.1. USB 2.0 increased the transfer rate to 480 mbit/s (60 mb/s) And it is identified by its color black.
Blue USB (3.0)
The one that today is the most common USB standard, 3.0arrived eight years later with speeds of up to 4.8 GBIT/S (600 MB/S)10 times more than the previous specification. The color associated with this specification is the blue.
USB TURQUESA (3.1)
If you see a color port turquoiseit is a faster variant of the USB 3.0, which came in 2013. The transfer rate of the USB 3.1 It is up to 10 GBIT/S (1.25 GB/S).
USB Red (3.2)
The last update of the third generation of the USB 3.0 standard was launched in 2017. USB 3.2 It usually corresponds to the color red And it reaches the 20 GBIT/S (2.5 GB/S).
USB Yellow
A color USB port yellow It can correspond to USB 2.0 and later. The yellow color indicates that That port provides continuous loadeven with the computer off.