So @Ankit, USB (Universal Serial Bus) is basically an industry standard establishing specifications for cables and connectors along with protocols for connection, communication & power supply between computers. A huge variety of USB hardware exists, including various connectors with the USB-C being the most recent one. On the basis of speed, there have been 4 generations of USB, namely, USB 1.x, USB 2.0, USB 3.x & USB4, under which the different types of USB cables come. So today I will briefly tell you about the different generations of USB and types of USB cables. A) DIFFERENT GENERATIONS OF USB 1. USB 1.x The USB 1.x was introduced in January 1996 with defined data transfer rates of 1.5 Mbit/s (MegaBits per second) as Low Speed, for low data rate devices like mice, joysticks & keyboards, and 12 Mbit/s as Full Speed, for higher speed devices like printers & floppy disk drives. 2. USB 2.0 The USB 2.0 was released in April 2000, with a greater signaling rate of 480Mbit/s (60MB/s) named High Speed. The modifications in USB 2.0 included Mini A & Mini B connector, On The Go supplement, that made possible for 2 USB devices to communicate with each other without the need of a separate of USB host, support for dedicated chargers, along with a few more. 3. USB 3.x The USB 3.0 was released on 12 November 2008 and added a SuperSpeed transfer mode for a transfer rate of 5.0 Gbit/s (GigaBits per second). USB 3.2 was released in September 2017 and introduced 2 new SuperSpeed+ transfer modes with data rates of 10 Gbit/s (1.25 GB/s) & 20 Gbit/s (2.5 GB/s). 4. USB4 The USB4 was released on 29 August 2019 and is based on Thunderbolt 3 protocol and is compatible with Thunderbolt 3 and backwards compatible with USB 3.2 & 2.0. USB4 products must support 20 Gbit/s and can support 40 Gbit/s throughput. B) DIFFERENT TYPES OF USB CABLES 1. TYPE A Type A is the standard flat and rectangular interface that you would find on one end of nearly every USB cable. Most computers have multiple (ranging from 2 to 3) USB-A ports to connect devices using the Type A cable. This cable, like most of the others, can be inserted in one way only. 2. TYPE B Type B is an almost square connector and is mostly used for powered devices that connect to a computer like printers. On some devices, the Type B ports have no data connections as they are used solely for accepting power from the upstream device. You won't find many of them nowadays as most devices have moved onto smaller connections. 3. MINI USB Mini USB, introduced along with USB 2.0, is a smaller connector and was standard for mobile devices before the introduction of Micro USB. It was initially used for a variety of devices like MP3 players, digital cameras & mobile phones, but isn't very common nowadays. Mini USB is referred to as deprecated meaning that it can be used, but manufacturers don't recommend it because of the availability of a much better technology called Micro USB. 4. MICRO USB Micro USB has width similar to that of a Mini USB, but almost half the thickness, thus enabling its integration into thinner portable devices. It is also designed to reduce the mechanical wear on the device due to continuous connection & disconnection. Micro USB ports are frequently seen on Android mobile phones & tablets and various other devices like digital cameras & video game controllers. It also supports USB OTG, that allows mobile phones to function as a host for devices like a mouse, keyboard, or USB flash drive, while Mini USB doesn't. It is the current standard for mobile phones and tablets, though some of them have moved onto USB-C. 5. USB-C USB-C is the newest USB cable and is a reversible one, unlike any type before, that promises higher data transfer rates. It connects to both hosts & devices and is meant to be future proof. You will see it on many new laptops & smartphones like the MacBook and the Pixel & OnePlus phones. LIGHTNING Lightning isn't a true USB cable type but is proprietary power connector created & designed by Apple. It can be used to connect Apple devices like iPhone, iPad, AirPods to host computers, external monitors and other peripherals. It is similar in size to a USB C cable and comes standard on all Apple devices released since September 2012. It may be inserted into the female port using either side but requires adapters to connect with other peripherals and is not of much use without them. I hope that I am able to answer your question, but if you still have any queries, then feel free to ask. And do check out the Instagram account of our site @draditech(https://www.instagram.com/draditech/) and do not forget to follow it.