It’s hard to imagine a world without USB ports these days. You’ll find these rectangular connectors everywhere, from public charging ports at airports or cozy cafés to the side of your laptop and the bottom of your smartphone. There’s also a handful of USB generations to contend with, and some of these connections even wear name tags you’ll have to memorize.
Have you ever noticed a double-S emblem hanging above blue or red USB ports on a desktop PC or laptop? The SS stands for SuperSpeed, which refers to USB 3.2 (previously known as USB 3.0). The SS moniker used to be a quick way to differentiate between USB 3.x and the much slower USB 2.0 connection — until it wasn’t.
Over the last several years, USB technology has gone through some rapid evolutions, resulting in newer and faster protocols like USB4. With the introduction of this new USB standard, alongside other advancements, manufacturers eventually just stopped using the SuperSpeed descriptor. But what if you own a computer released within the last decade that still has SS ports? Does that mean you’re stuck with an outdated technology? Let’s take a closer look at the SS USB to find out.
A brief history of USB protocols
Most consumers probably won’t have the time or interest to sort through USB terminology, unlike the experts at the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF). This is a consortium of tech brands responsible for the naming and rollout of USB standards, and the organization responsible for the SuperSpeed label. Believe it or not, USB naming wasn’t so complicated in the early days of USB. The SS logo indicated that the port used USB 3.0 technology, allowing for transfer rates up to 5Gbps. Compared to the 480Mbps that USB 2.0 is capped at, five gigs of back-and-forth bandwidth is pretty impressive.
In 2013, USB ports started handling 10Gbps speeds, with this new standard labeled as USB 3.1 Gen 2. The USB 3.0 standard was rebranded to USB 3.1 Gen 1 until everything fell apart again when 20Gbps speeds showed up in 2017. This resulted in the USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 moniker, along with another renaming of the older USB 3.x standards. The USB-IF introduced the SS label to help consumers identify the fastest ports, but over time, the SuperSpeed name became less common.
In 2022, the USB-IF eliminated the confusing USB 3.x and SuperSpeed marketing. Nowadays, the consortium simply leans on the port’s bytes-per-second value for naming purposes. So, USB 3.2 Gen 1 is now just USB 5Gbps. The same goes for later versions of USB 3.2, connections which are now formally recognized as USB 10Gbps, USB 20Gbps, etc.
Is SuperSpeed USB still a fast connection?
On older PCs or AV components, an SS label still signals a fast connection and guarantees support for at least 5Gbps transfer speeds. This bodes well for those of us with jobs that require constant file transfers between PCs and devices like USB flash drives or external hard disks. An SS label above a USB port is a good sign for PC gamers, too, as the faster protocol is ideal for loading up games and interfacing with accessories like mice, keyboards, headsets, webcams, and more.
Thankfully, official USB terminology is a lot clearer now, at least in regard to the USB-IF’s naming conventions are concerned. The consortium’s new labeling system extends all the way to USB4 technology, with USB 40Gbps and USB 80Gbps monikers being fairly common. However, device manufacturers need to adhere to the USB-IF’s compliance testing in order to use these byte-per-second labels.
