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Hey Zeal, any reason you went with the age-old USB mini b instead of the sweet new USB-C? Time? Cost? Inexperience? All of the above?
Have you/were you toying with the idea? Maybe Rev1?
There are a few reasons, and USB C was considered, but eventually not used for the Zeal60.
1) Majority of aftermarket keyboards are designed with Mini USB in mind. Therefore the hole for these cases usually cannot accommodate the large 8.3mm wide connector+rubber exterior housing.
2) A large amount of keyboard enthusiast would prefer to have a matching custom cable for their keyset. As of right now, only one cable vendor is offering USB C sleeved cables. Options for custom sleeved/matching USB C cables are quite limited at this moment.
3) Reducing cable clutter. People that own multiple boards generally will be rotating them in and out. Would you really want to have one mini USB cable, micro USB cable, USB C cable on your desk dangling around?
4) There may be clearance issues with the current left aligned USB port if a USB C female port is used. The female end has a widest point of 11.75mm for its anchors and is 9.75mm long(connector to end). The distance between the switch pin of "Esc" and "1" is only ~9.8mm.
There's no question that USB C is a much superior connector, but it needs some time to mature a bit before everyone shifts over. For custom builds, you can definitely design around USB C, but when going for maximum compatibility like a 60%, it's best to stay with Mini USB.