The ports available on computers have changed considerably over the years, until reaching the latest connection standard, such as USB type C.
The latter is the future, although at the moment USB type A continues to prevail, the one that is mostly dedicated to connecting the most important peripherals, such as a keyboard or mouse.
Although in addition to the form, other sections also come into play, such as the color of each port, as well as the pin diagramsince some manufacturers change these colors, so the ideal would always be to look at these pins.
Regardless of the internal data cables, which would already enter the most purely technical field, here you will find a complete guide to everything you can find on the outside.
That is, those that serve precisely to connect peripherals to the PC, as well as video and audio cables, in case your computer has this possibility.
So you can differentiate all types of cables, ports and their colors to get the most out of your PC, whether it is a desktop or a laptop.
All types of USB you could find
When it comes to differentiating the different types of USB, the most important thing is to start with its shape.
The most widely used standard currently is USB type A, the one with a rectangular shape, a classic connector that is very widespread for the use of peripherals, since these have not yet made the leap to USB type C.
As for the latter, Its shape is oval and it is reversiblewhich implies that at both ends you will find the same type of USB; This is the newest standard and what will be the future of connections.
Here the popular Thunderbolt comes into play, which is a technology developed by Intel and Apple using USB-C, with the possibility of accessing fast data transmission, in addition to serving as a power source or for video.
It is the most complete and the one you will see in all the most recent computers on the market; You will generally find it with the small lightning bolt symbol, with speeds of up to 80 Gbps in its most recent version, to connect gaming monitors, for example, to achieve a high frequency rate.
In short, this is the essential one, since you could connect an external device with all the ports you need, so it is mandatory if you buy a new PC or build it from scratch.
Between these 2 types there also appears the USB-Bwhich has a square shape, although you will basically find it in other types of devices, such as printers. Beyond this, the colors of the port and the generation referred to come into play, which will have an impact on the speed.
Here the most basic is USB 2.0with speeds of approximately 480 Mbps and with white or black color, until reaching the latest generation, USB 4.0 (Thunderbolt 3 and 4), with the already mentioned lightning or black color and speeds of 40 Gbps.
Generally, this rule is followed: blue is faster than black, with the exception of USB 4, while red or similar offers faster speeds than blue.
Other ports that you should know in depth
In addition to all of the above, it should be noted that within USB type C there are 2 important classifications, which you can verify with acronyms such as PD (Power Delivery) o DP (DisplayPort).
The first is directly related to power, since many speakers offer this standard to guarantee the best sound, while the second refers to the possibility of video transmission.
For the latter, you will also see the HDMI portwhich is usually gray or black, and is the most common standard if you need to connect your computer to a television or a console, for example.
Another vital one if you need the speed that your router can handle is Ethernet (RJ-45), which is for wired Internet connection, with a transparent plastic that hides cables of different colors, such as yellow, blue or gray.
Finally, even though the 3.5 millimeter connection used for headphones is now unifiedyou can also find some other colors: for audio output, green; for microphone, reddish tones, and for line input, blue.
It is something that no longer usually appears on computers, but that you could still see on many televisions, so it is vital to correctly connect sound devices.