USB 3.2 and 3.1 Explained: What’s Gen 1, Gen 2 and Gen 2×2?
While USB 4 may be the latest and fastest generation, the most common USB ports on PCs and peripherals have a "3" in the version number, specifically USB 3.2 or USB 3.1 or even 3.0. When you're looking at spec sheets, you'll also also see generation numbers after the USB 3.2 or 3.1 so, for example, there's USB 3.2 Gen 1, USB 3.2 Gen 2 and even USB 3.2 Gen 2x2. And yet some ports with different version numbers actually have the same speed! Confused yet?Fortunately, when you get past all the confusing decimals and generation numbers, it's easy to determine what speeds you can expect from your USB ports, cables and devices. You just need to know the lingo, which we outline below.
USB 3.2, USB 3.1 and USB 3.0 Versions and Speeds
USB VersionSpeedAltenrate NameConnector Type(s)Identical toUSB 3.2 Gen 15 GbpsSuperSpeed USBType-A, Type-C, Type-B,...
