USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) has now officially announced the USB4 and confirms all specifications. It brings major update to the USB 3.2 standard including faster speed.
USB4 is based on Thunderbolt 3 protocol. It uses the same dual-lane architecture as USB 3.2 but doubles the individual lane-transfer speeds to achieve 40Gbps data transfer rate. To take advantage of this speed, you will also need USB4 certified cables.
Also see: Best Micro USB Cables
The good thing is that it is backward compatible with USB 3.2, USB 2.0 and Thunderbolt 3. Now multiple data and display protocols can efficiently share the maximum aggregate bandwidth over USB4. It means if your display is using X Gbps bandwidth, your device can use 40-x Gbps for power or data transfer.
We are still not seeing much devices with USB 3.2, so you shouldn’t expect USB4 compatible devices anytime soon. It is also worth to note that the latest Snapdragon 855 Soc for smartphones doesn’t support USB 3.2. I hope we will start seeing devices with USB4 by the second half of 2020
