
Why was Mini USB deprecated in favor of Micro USB? - dchester195
http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/18552/why-was-mini-usb-deprecated-in-favor-of-micro-usb
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simias
This is a great answer, but IIRC there's an other reason to prefer micro over
mini: the moving parts in the micro-USB connection are in the male plug, not
the female one like the mini.

Since those parts tend to break easily, it's cheaper to replace the cable
rather than the smartphone/device having the female port.

That being said I'm still a bit mad at Apple for ditching their old large
port, only to replace it with an other proprietary standard.

~~~
seanmcdirmid
Apple's port, which doesn't have an up/down direction, is much easier to plug
in than the micro USB port, which does. It is an innovation, like it or not,
that USB doesn't have.

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msoad
Although Lightning Cable is not the first to be bidirectional I am mad at
Apple for not making Lightning an open standard.

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asynchronous13
> I am mad at Apple for not making Lightning an open standard.

Lightning is just Apple's marketing term for Intel's Thunderbolt interface.
The standard is available from Intel, and if it were not it would be more
appropriate to direct your anger at Intel.

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mikeash
Thunderbolt is Intel's external, hotswappable PCI-e interface found on many
Apple laptops. Lightning is Apple's proprietary interface found on iOS
devices. Aside from being named after different aspects of the same natural
phenomenon, they have _nothing_ in common.

~~~
asynchronous13
Not sure how I got those so thoroughly mixed up, thanks for the clarification.

~~~
mikeash
Well, being named after the same natural phenomenon is confusing enough. I
often have to stop and think which is which. It's an understandable mistake.

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mistercow
I only ever had one mini USB cord go bad, and that was a minor pain. But I
have had the micro USB _port_ on a cell phone become unreliable, which is
insanely frustrating. The post holding the contacts no longer wants to push
them against the cord, so it frequently loses the connection.

I can solve the problem temporarily by pushing the post back with a small
screw driver, but "temporarily" here is measured in minutes or hours.

~~~
sspiff
Exactly the same experience here, except that I never had a mini-USB failure.
After roughly 6 months of use, the USB receptacle of my LG smartphone was just
not holding on to any cable anymore. I sent it back to LG, and they replaced
the part containing the mirco-USB port.

On an unrelated note: LG noticed that I was running a custom ROM but didn't
make any problem of it, while technically they can claim that such an action
voids my warranty.

~~~
freehunter
Actually, if you're in the US the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act covers you in the
case of customizations [1]. Under this law, manufacturers are only able to
claim your warranty as void if the modifications are what caused your warranty
claim. I doubt they would be able to claim that your custom ROM caused your
hardware failure on the USB port, so legally they had to fix it. More info on
this FTC law [2].

[1] [http://www.examiner.com/article/what-modifications-will-
void...](http://www.examiner.com/article/what-modifications-will-void-my-
warranty-on-my-new-car-purchase)

[2]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuson%E2%80%93Moss_Warranty_...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuson%E2%80%93Moss_Warranty_Act)

~~~
sspiff
I'm in Europe, but it may well be that a similar law is in effect here.
However, a lot of consumers (me included) wouldn't know about that, and
companies try to get out of repairs that they are legally required to perform.

Take a look at Apple's warranty: they claim to provide only 1 year of
warranty, while European law requires them to provide two years. They will
repair your device in the second year (it's the law!). However, I bet their
confusing labeling etc. will cause a lot of people to believe their warranty
has expired. Those people will either not ask for a free repair or pay their
shop to repair the device.

~~~
freehunter
In the US, Magnuson-Moss is often referred to as "the lemon law" (a defective
product that can't be repaired is colloquially called a "lemon").
Specifically, "the lemon law" refers commonly to cars that have issues the
dealer didn't specify before the sale and will not/can not fix.

Problem is, the FTC requires you to have a lawyer file a lawsuit and
coordinate your legal costs and representation with the FTC, generally
requiring a lawyer specifically dealing in lemon law cases. I've been down
this path with a defective cell phone (HTC Touch Pro) and trying to get my
carrier to replace it, and it's impossible to find a lemon law lawyer that
deals in anything besides used car sales.

As always, the law is well intentioned but enforcement is next to impossible,
just like you said.

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iyulaev
Important point - back in 2007, China _mandated_ that all cell phones be able
to charge from a standardized connector [1]. The connector they chose was
Micro USB. Thus regulatory concerns played no small part in the mini vs micro
wars.

[1] [http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/tech-news/micro-usb-to-
be-a...](http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/tech-news/micro-usb-to-be-a-new-
phone-charger-standard/)

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moreentropy
Another point: AFAIK the Mico USB connector is designed so that if you apply
force from the side to a plugged in connector, the plug will deliberately
break and the socket/pcb will stay functional.

Edit: I can't relate to those who say Mini USB is more reliable than Micro
USB. I've had a lot of trouble with Mini USB connectors and especially cables,
especially if I move a connected device i've had lots of short disconnects.
This never happened with Micro USB. So.. go Mico USB!!1!

~~~
ronaldx
Yep, I have had several mini USB ports quickly destroy themselves, to the
point that it affected my buying decisions. The accepted answer in the link
perfectly explains why.

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bryanlarsen
I thought that another big advantage of micro USB over mini USB was that it's
a lot easier to combine type A & B. The difference between A & B is most
obvious in a full size USB cable. The "A" plug is the flat side that goes into
your computer, and the "B" plug is the square one that goes into your device.

The differentiation made a lot of sense when USB was exclusively master-slave.
However, the addition of the on-the-go standard (OTG) means that things like a
cell phone can function as either a master or a slave. Thus the connector on
your cell phone is likely a micro-AB connector that can accept either a type-A
or type-B plug so you can connect your cell phone to both computers & storage
devices without requiring two different ports.

However, a double check before posting indicates that a mini-AB standard does
exist. So that's not the reason. I'll post anyways because I think it's useful
information on its own...

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speeder
So I am not nuts!

I always wondered if something was wrong with my charging cables and USB phone
cables always failing to work after only some months...

So indeed, the mini and micro both have issues (thankfully the micro is "less
worse" or I would be buying cables like there is no tomorrow)

~~~
marshray
Still, that doesn't prove you're not nuts.

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snarfy
I still wish they would have standardized on 2.5mm jacks for usb. You can plug
it in any direction, and you can pull a cable out of a tangle of wires without
snagging due to the round shape. It is a superior connector.

~~~
lttlrck
that would be far too easy to short out/catch fire/damage circuitry/blow a
fuse.

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drone
This x100.

Never use this style of connector/jack for supplying power. The cable tip will
make contact with both the jack ring and sleeve in most jacks, and the cable
ring will make contact with the jack sleeve. No matter how you wire the
cable/jack, you always have the high probably of short on insertion/removal.

~~~
marshray
With electronics on both ends, the devices could easily negotiate in which
direction power should flow, how much, and detect open and short conditions.

~~~
drone
So, tell us how you expect this task would be achieved. (I know some possible
ways, but I could just as easily say "but none are as effective as using the
right cable for the task!")

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zwieback
I've had more micro-USB failures than mini but good connectors are expensive
to make so part of the problem may be that micro is better in theory but
harder to manufacture in practice.

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mwexler
I hope this doesn't start a sad trend of 'Nano USB' and 'Pico USB'.

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reddog9287
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_(connector)#Reception](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_\(connector\)#Reception)

Please note under "Reception" about Micro USB and it being "standard". WHO'S
LAUGHING NOW?!

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devx
Can Micro-USB support USB 3.0 speeds?

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unwind
USB 3.0's highest speed (termed "SuperSpeed" to easily separate it from the
previous, equally clearly labelled, speed grades "LowSpeed", "FullSpeed" and
"HighSpeed") requires more pins than USB 2.0 speeds, so the connectors are
different.

Here's a link, picture of USB 3.0 micro plug on the right:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#Cable_plugs_.28USB_3.0.29](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#Cable_plugs_.28USB_3.0.29).

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smacktoward
If USB 4.0 doesn't come labeled as "LudicrousSpeed" I will be severely
disappointed.

EDIT: For those who don't get the reference:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygE01sOhzz0](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygE01sOhzz0)

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mitchty
Why not go straight to plaid? :)

