Remember those fiddly screw-locks for VGA and DVI-D? Bet you didn’t know USB-C also has them

Technology often has a way of coming full circle—just ask my burgeoning LP collection or the entire VR gaming industry. Things that once were, often will be again (picture that Tim and Eric ‘mind blown’ clip here). I know this, but it never stops me from being surprised when something long-forgotten resurfaces.

Something, that is, like dual-screw locks on cable connectors. Yes, that sacred locking mechanism of times once past is now with us again, but this time, as Redditor tomyan112 shows us, it’s on a USB-C connector rather than a VGA or DVI-D.

This isn’t a new development, but it’s certainly the first I’ve seen of it. As it turns out, though, the USB-C locking connector specification sheet (PDF) outlined just such functionality (both in left-and-right format and one-above format) as part of the USB-C spec way back in 2016. They kept that one quiet, didn’t they!

Lo, hearken ye to times once past, when cables twined around legs and monitors did topple asunder.

If you’re of a certain age, you too will remember that the gold standard for connecting your gaming monitor was a DVI-D cable if you were lucky, or a VGA cable if you were not. (The former transfers a digital rather than analogue signal and generally supports higher refresh rates and better image quality at higher resolutions.)

Screw lock for PD240W usb type-c cable has returned. from r/pcmasterrace

For the young’uns reading who are still none the wiser, these 29-pin and 15-pin connectors were at risk of having their pins bent or coming loose if they relied on just staying plugged in, so there was a screw either side of them which you’d turn into the screwholes on the monitor and GPU to keep them secure.

And truth be told, I don’t know why I’m talking about all this in the past tense, given I’m quite literally still using a DVI-D cable right now to connect my second monitor (an old BenQ XL2411Z) to my PC. I am having to use a DVI-D to DP adapter to hook it up though, given GPUs abandoned DVI long ago.

I do miss the screwy mechanism. That roll of the thumb, followed by another roll of the thumb, followed by another roll of the thumb, and another ro- you get the idea. Then the heart-stopping moment when you catch the cable with your foot and wonder whether the monstrous battlestation you’ve constructed around yourself is about to come tumbling down and expose it for the frail house of cards it is.

Come to think of it, maybe I don’t miss it all too much. I can’t think of many use cases where having a USB-C cable locked in place would be of massive benefit, and USB-C cables aren’t massively prone to bending or breaking, either.

But hey, maybe just for nostalgia’s sake? You can run a DisplayPort signal over USB-C, after all. It might be worth it just for that sweet hit to the ol’ memory bank you’ll get while you struggle to keep your arm bent under your monitor as you twizzle the screws for the umpteenth time. Ah yes, that’s the spot—just like we did it back in 2007.