This question came in from reader Steven Feldman:

Hi, just a question about USB 3.0. I am going to be purchasing a laptop in the next few months... I have been waiting because I want to get a SSD (solid state drive) in the laptop that can hold 256GB minimum for a reasonable price, but that is a story in itself. I have recently been reading about USB 3.0 technology being developed, and if I buy a laptop soon, I don't think I can upgrade it to USB 3.0 from 2.0 without replacing the motherboard.

I read online that products will be coming out for USB 3.0 in Q4 of 2009, but I don't care about the products; what I do care about is when laptops will be able to support the USB 3.0 technology. When are motherboards for laptops going to have USB 3.0 support in them?

See executive editor Jeremy Kaplan's answer after the jump.

Jeremy replies:

USB 3.0 promises dramatic increases in speed...if it ever shows up. The 2009 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) showcased a few demonstrations of the technology in action, meaning manufacturers are finally testing interoperability (the specification itself was completed in November). But getting working ports into laptops takes longer.

Look for manufacturers to finalize the PHYs--that's industry slang for the physical layer device, or the port itself--late this summer, meaning we'll almost definitely see discrete add-in cards at some point this year. But manufacturers won't build the technology into chipsets, and therefore into laptops, until early 2010. Besides, by all accounts, Windows 7 won't support USB 3.0--at first, anyway. In sum, I wouldn't hold off your purchase based on this one factor.