The USB 3.0 Promoter Group, comprising Apple, HP, Intel, Microsoft, and other companies, today introduced an upcoming USB 3.2 specification, which will eventually replace the existing USB 3.1 specification upon release.
While the increase is relatively incremental, the group stated that the USB 3.2 protocol will allow for either two lanes of 5Gb/s or two lanes of 10Gb/s operation.
With support for two lanes of 10Gb/s transfer speeds, performance is essentially doubled over existing USB-C cables.
The USB Promoter Group stated that a USB 3.2 host connected to a USB 3.2 storage device will be capable of 2GB/sec data transfer performance over a USB-C cable certified for USB SuperSpeed 10Gb/s USB 3.1, while also remaining backwards compatible with earlier USB devices.
Along with two-lane operation, USB 3.2 continues to use SuperSpeed USB layer data rates and encoding techniques and will introduce a minor update to hub specifications for seamless transitions between single and two-lane operation.
Stay tuned for additional details about USB 3.2, which will be unveiled at USB Developer Days 2017 later this year.
Via MacRumors and BusinessWire