High Speed is the name USB gives to the 480 Mbit/s data rate introduced with USB 2.0 in the early 2000s. At the time, this was a substantial jump over the earlier Full Speed tier, and USB 2.0 became the dominant standard for well over a decade.
USB 2.0 High Speed remains extremely common today, not because it is cutting edge, but because many devices, such as keyboards, mice, basic webcams and many phone chargers, simply do not need more bandwidth than 480 Mbit/s provides. It also remains fully supported by every newer USB generation through backward compatibility.
When a modern USB-C cable or port is described as USB 2.0, it means it is limited to this 480 Mbit/s High Speed tier for data, even though the connector itself may look identical to a much faster USB-C cable. See our guide to USB speeds for a full comparison of the tiers.
