5 ms·

I've purchased a large number of USB-C cables, and the Apple one is the only one that seems to charge a macbook pro at full-speed (87watts). All the others (Ank

I've purchased a large number of USB-C cables, and the Apple one is the only one that seems to charge a macbook pro at full-speed (87watts). All the others (Anker, Amazon Basics, a few others) only charge at 30w or 60w which can leave your computer out of battery after a full day of use even when plugged in if you're doing compute-heavy things. Not saying the $19 price-tag is "fair," but at least it's a high-quality cable.

rvense 8y ago
"High quality" in this case probably means that the microcontroller embedded it spits out the right sequence of bytes to make the laptop enable full-speed charging.
- reaperducer 8y ago
  Surprisingly, no. Google around for tear-downs of Apple charging gear. They usually have comparisons with tear-downs of the generic "equivalents." It's fascinating how different the engineering is from one brand to another, and the (sometimes terrifying) shortcuts the non-Apple chargers take.
  - hrktb 8y ago
    Aren’t we talking about the cables here ? I’d be curious to know what in the Apple cable is so high quality that it allows it faster speed than the other decent brands. Otherwise my Google-fu is failing me on the USB-C charger teardown, do you remember where you saw one ?
    - briandear 8y ago
      Aren’t these actually Thunderbolt 3 cables?
      - photojosh 8y ago
        No, the charging cables aren’t. They’re even only USB2 speeds for data IIRC.
    - brigade 8y ago
      Sufficiently low resistance wire; in particular, USB power over 60W needs >3A current, so a high-gauge high-resistance wire can cause voltage to drop below the minimum specs. Since everything 60W and below uses a max of 3A, that’s the common maximum design target.
      - hrktb 8y ago
        This basic anker cable seems to fit the bill: https://www.anker.com/products/variant/powerline-3ft-usb-c-to-usb-c-2-0/A8187091 https://www.anker.com/products/variant/powerline-3ft-usb-c-t... it might have been rarer when the macbook pro got out, at this point I think it’s decently common.
        selectodude 8y ago
        "This cable will not charge Nexus 5X, Moto Z, OnePlus 3/3T, Huawei Mate 9, Helio X20/X25, or MacBook Pro 87W at full speed." Guess I'm still going to Apple.
        hrktb 8y ago
        good point, I read too fast
opencl 8y ago
The USB-PD spec requires active cables in order to support over 3A, which is 60W @ 20V. Any cable supporting over 60W will most likely specifically advertise itself as either a 5A or 100W cable.

rvense 8y ago

"High quality" in this case probably means that the microcontroller embedded it spits out the right sequence of bytes to make the laptop enable full-speed charging.

reaperducer 8y ago
Surprisingly, no. Google around for tear-downs of Apple charging gear. They usually have comparisons with tear-downs of the generic "equivalents." It's fascinating how different the engineering is from one brand to another, and the (sometimes terrifying) shortcuts the non-Apple chargers take.
- hrktb 8y ago
  Aren’t we talking about the cables here ? I’d be curious to know what in the Apple cable is so high quality that it allows it faster speed than the other decent brands. Otherwise my Google-fu is failing me on the USB-C charger teardown, do you remember where you saw one ?
  - briandear 8y ago
    Aren’t these actually Thunderbolt 3 cables?
    - photojosh 8y ago
      No, the charging cables aren’t. They’re even only USB2 speeds for data IIRC.
  - brigade 8y ago
    Sufficiently low resistance wire; in particular, USB power over 60W needs >3A current, so a high-gauge high-resistance wire can cause voltage to drop below the minimum specs. Since everything 60W and below uses a max of 3A, that’s the common maximum design target.
    - hrktb 8y ago
      This basic anker cable seems to fit the bill: https://www.anker.com/products/variant/powerline-3ft-usb-c-to-usb-c-2-0/A8187091 https://www.anker.com/products/variant/powerline-3ft-usb-c-t... it might have been rarer when the macbook pro got out, at this point I think it’s decently common.
      - selectodude 8y ago
        "This cable will not charge Nexus 5X, Moto Z, OnePlus 3/3T, Huawei Mate 9, Helio X20/X25, or MacBook Pro 87W at full speed." Guess I'm still going to Apple.
        hrktb 8y ago
        good point, I read too fast

opencl 8y ago

The USB-PD spec requires active cables in order to support over 3A, which is 60W @ 20V. Any cable supporting over 60W will most likely specifically advertise itself as either a 5A or 100W cable.