The most abundant connector standard in technology, the Universal Serial Bus, is getting ready for its most revolutionary change yet with a new specification that will be finalized in July of this year. Breaking physical compatibility with current ports, USB Type-C is much smaller than the USB plugs you're used to and is, perhaps more importantly, symmetrical. The reversible design means you'll be able to connect a Type-C cable without worrying about the plug's orientation or the cable's direction.

Intended to replace both USB and Micro USB with one universal standard, Type-C looks to be pretty much the same size as Apple's proprietary Lightning cable, which has a similar reversible design. With support for USB 3.1, the new cables will offer bandwidth of up to 10Gbps, though their biggest benefit will surely be in eliminating the frustration of trying to plug devices in the right way round. The design and the full spec have not been fully settled yet, but the USB Implementers Forum is confident enough in its current plans to release these images illustrating what can be expected.