14 DAY TRIAL // Laptops are slowing stepping in a new era, that of extreme portability and versatility. But in a few years the most advanced of MacBook Airs or Surface Pros might look like they arrived from another planet.
People of the future will look at such laptops in puzzlement, wondering why they have so many holes. There’s a distinctive USB socket, magnetic charging port, plus a video output hole, so they'll ask, why the waste of space when you could have everything neatly tucked into one place.
Introducing a new USB standard
Achieving this unity is not far away from us, as VESA just announced the USB 3.1 Type-C jack. This new technology is very special because the standard is capable of delivering full DisplayPort audio/video (A/V) performance, SuperSpeed USB (USB 3.1) data, deliver monitor resolutions up to 4K and more and transfer up to 100watts of power via cable.
This is quite impressive, considering the current generation of MacBook Air is offered with a 45watts AC adapter.
On top of what we already mentioned, the USB Type-C connector supports an impressive installed base of existing DisplayPort, HDMI, DVI and VGA displays.
What’s more, the new USB standard is not concerned where the video output signal goes, so in theory you should be able to stream video from your phone on your laptop screen, while the handset is being charged via your laptop.
As you can see, it is time you started envisioning what laptops of the future might look like without the extra ports carved into their thin and light body. The image is pretty appealing, isn’t it?
The rumor mill actually claims that we’re not far from seeing the USB 3.1 Type-C cable make a debut into the wild.
A new MacBook Air taking advantage of the standard might be on the way
Word on the street has it that a fanless 12-inch MacBook Air taking advantage of the new connector will be rolled out soon enough.
This is going to be one of the laptops taking advantage of Intel’s new Broadwell platform, which sustains life on extremely light and sleek 2-in-1 hybrids / laptops.
Keeping this aspect in mind, we can hypothesize that future products taking advantage of Broadwell’s Core M chips might also enjoy the new USB standard.
Some of these models have already been announced, but the exact details aren’t known so far.
Think how cool it would be to see the new USB system in the ASUS Zenbook UX305, a 13.3-inch laptop offering an amazing 3200 x 1800 pixel resolution.
In a few months, we’ll probably know if this is the case or not. Until then, the future looks quite bright.
