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Is there a possible outcome where cable components become cheap enough that every USB-C cable is a universal cable that does everything?
by jl6 5y ago
Is there a possible outcome where cable components become cheap enough that every USB-C cable is a universal cable that does everything?
- chippiewill 5y agoNo because vendors will keep putting custom things into their cables to support magic XYZ feature.
- sokoloff 5y agoAs long as there’s a penny to be made by shaving component costs, probably not. I have USB micro cables that “work” to charge phones or for data but will give voltage throttling errors if used to power an RPi3 or later. This is presumably from using wires internally of too small gauge. I can’t see things like that stopping.
- izacus 5y agoIt's not pennies - 0.5m of TB3 cable is 50$. 2m of TB3 cable is 130$. 2m of USB3.1 cable is 15$. Massive difference, don't you think?
- sokoloff 5y agoBy pennies, I meant if someone can sell a substandard (but "mostly works") cable of any variety and have the parts cost $0.10/meter less, the market will ensure that happens. Was comparing TB2.995 vs TB3, not TB vs USB.
- Dylan16807 5y agoNot if you want cables that are longer than two feet. There's a tradeoff between speed and distance. And that's after you solve the problem of people trying to cut out a couple pennies of copper. And the people that want thinner cables just for charging.
- kalleboo 5y agoNo, because they will keep adding features at the high end as the previous high end features get cheaper and new high end features become possible
- izacus 5y agoNo, since Thunderbolt needs active cables with amplifiers very quickly, which is driving the cost of TB3 cables well over 50$ for distances that a standard 15$ USB3.1 easily beats. Physics is a problem here.