What's The Meaning Of The "A" On Your USB-A Ports?
Making sense of USB-A and clearing up if it's becoming obsolete.
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There's no hidden or extraordinary meaning for the letter "A" in USB-A. It's simply a letter designation for a Type-A connector, which is the familiar, wide rectangular plug found on flash drives and countless charging cables. USB itself stands for Universal Serial Bus, but the letter "A" identifies the connector type and nothing more. The same holds true for USB-B and USB-C connectors.
The reason for differentiating A, B and C goes back to the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) and the necessary designators for physical connections and power/data delivery. For instance, with a traditional printer, B is the square device connector and A is the rectangular end that plugs into your PC. In the early days, this was a simple method for informing consumers what goes where and why.
For everyday use, Type A is a connector...
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