6 ms·

As a European, I'm very happy. USB-A has been with us for over 20 years. It's only disappearing because of USB-C, and USB-C seems to have room to grow. I would

As a European, I'm very happy. USB-A has been with us for over 20 years. It's only disappearing because of USB-C, and USB-C seems to have room to grow. I wouldn't be surprised if it will still be the most popular connector in 2035, and not just because "legislation stops innovation". Making sure there are no weird exceptions to a very good port is reasonable and good.

2000UltraDeluxe 4y ago
The idea's nice. I'll still have about 30 unusable micro-USB chargers lying around, though.
- asutekku 4y ago
  Sure, doesn't still mean we should stagnate and be forced to use tech that is basically obsolete for a modern world's requirements.
  - rob_c 4y ago
    I wouldn't stand on the hill of this is obsolete tech, there should be more devices built with power efficiency from the ground up as well as less focus on the USBC charges your phone faster. This is more about usbc will charge every device you have in a few years so no reaching for custom chargers. Usbc->X cables however are another matter nothing is stopping HP making a custom usbc->HP port for their laptops for instance
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
  - spacexsucks 4y ago
    Basically obsolete. As someone who uses a 7 yr old ipad, a 10 yr old windows phone and a 9 yr old Nexus 7 this is hot garbage
    - asutekku 4y ago
      Just because you are using old tech with a connector that's prone to break and is not able to transfer data quickly doesn't mean everyone else has to.
      - erddfre3423 4y ago
        Everyone else should not have a choice to buy new equipment as cheap as they can do today, whenever they wish. That's simply not sustainable.
- ChuckNorris89 4y ago
  That's how progress works though. Would you rather be stuck with micro-USB technical limitations to this day instead?
- JumpCrisscross 4y ago
  This almost certainly prompts a USB-C iPhone followed by a portless one. (I don’t think they’re thin enough yet for USB-C to be structurally compromising.) In the box will either be no charger or a wireless charger with a USB-C port, thereby technically meeting the requirement.
- kalleboo 4y ago
  Interesting, I've never seen a charger with microUSB permanently attached, all my chargers have a USB-A port where you can change the cable. In any case, you can just stick tiny plug adapters on all your chargers. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G54XXZZ/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G54XXZZ/
  - vladvasiliu 4y ago
    I have an old Blackberry charger that has the cord attached, and I'm pretty sure I also have some old Samsung charger that's the same. But they're clearly quite rare.
    - 2000UltraDeluxe 4y ago
      I've got a whole bunch of them, actually. Luckily, they can be repurposed for older Pi models.
  - ThatPlayer 4y ago
    Off the top of my head, the Official Raspberry Pi Power Supplies, for both the microUSB and USB-C variants are permanently attached cables.
- pornel 4y ago
  Cables, not chargers. Your chargers are USB-A, and you can make them usable with an A-to-C cable. There are no chargers with micro-USB output port (USB never specified such thing). Micro-USB has been designed to make cables essentially disposable (and not meant to be hardwired into any device), because the more robust side of the connector is in the device's port, and the fragile side is in the cable.
  - Sohcahtoa82 4y ago
    > Micro-USB has been designed to make cables essentially disposable [..], because the more robust side of the connector is in the device's port, and the fragile side is in the cable. In my experience, this wasn't true. I had both a tablet and a phone that had the charging port fail. If I didn't apply a constant sideways force on the cable, it wouldn't charge. Tried other cables to make sure it wasn't a bad cable, but still had the same problem.
  - vineyardmike 4y ago
    > There are no chargers with micro-USB output port https://www.amazon.com/CanaKit-Raspberry-Supply-Adapter-Listed/dp/B00MARDJZ4/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=22SR58WW8T5B8&keywords=raspberry+pi+3+power+supply&qid=1654621873&sprefix=raspbery+pi+3+%2Caps%2C1588&sr=8-3 https://www.amazon.com/CanaKit-Raspberry-Supply-Adapter-List...
  - mlyle 4y ago
    > There are no chargers with micro-USB output port (USB never specified such thing I have several chargers with a brick and a permanently attached micro-USB cable that came with devices. One from Samsung; a couple from Grandcentral; a few for Raspberry Pis.
  - floxy 4y ago
    >There are no chargers with micro-USB output port https://duckduckgo.com/?q=microusb+AC+adapter&t=ffab&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images https://duckduckgo.com/?q=microusb+AC+adapter&t=ffab&iar=ima...
rob_c 4y ago
Great until you have some "sales rep" in a supermarket dealing with a Karen who's device won't charge fast enough off a 10W USBC charger that fundamentally isn't the same as a 60W one.
- kalleboo 4y ago
  That's not new to USB-C though, there was already a wide range of charging speeds on USB-A
  - vladvasiliu 4y ago
    Yeah, but now there are the bonus points for a "fastish" USB-A charger (QC something, that puts out ~20W) which won't do anything to a laptop that requires "PD", even though the 20W would be enough to at least slowly charge the battery while off.
    - Tijdreiziger 4y ago
      Legacy fast charging was always a mess of competing proprietary standards. A charger adhering to one standard (e.g. Samsung AFC or Oppo VOOC) wouldn't fast charge a phone using a different standard (e.g. Qualcomm QC or Apple 2.4A). https://www.androidauthority.com/fast-charging-explained-2-889780/ https://www.androidauthority.com/fast-charging-explained-2-8...
  - rob_c 4y ago
    Kind of is new when all of the specs rely on cable capability and not all manufacturers label different cables differently. The spec for what it is, is a mess, but it's a nice, nay, highly desirable form factor.
D13Fd 4y ago
It does stop innovation in things like lightning and MagSafe. And it doesn’t fix the multiple charger issue either, because so many manufacturers don’t adhere to the USB-C standard that any combination of charger + cable + device has an unreasonably non-zero chance of not working or even damaging the device. So in the end we still have to have multiple chargers, but now we can roll the dice on which one works with or damages which device because they all use the same connector.
- Majestic121 4y ago
  It does not stop innovation like MagSafe : https://www.amazon.com/Magnetic-Adapter-Connector-Transfer-Compatible/dp/B07TT6NGBC https://www.amazon.com/Magnetic-Adapter-Connector-Transfer-C... I'm not sure what you mean by 'unreasonably non-zero', but I've been sharing chargers between Macbook, XPS 13 and Thinkpad with no concern, + a charger from amazon. Some charger are less powerful than others, so charge is not always as quick, but in real life it does not matter : it's still charging fast enough in any combination, and for the last year the only reason I have multiple chargers is to have one at home and one at work, but any laptop works well on all chargers.
  - kansface 4y ago
    You shouldn’t use a lower wattage charger so it goes.
    - Majestic121 4y ago
      I have seen it in some forums as well, but do you have any explanation links about why that may be ? I have trouble finding relevant information that is not some random dude on a forum speaking very confidently one way or another without much data to back it up, and I don't see why that would cause any harm other than charging more slowly, eventually to the point of discharging if you consume a lot of power (which is a pretty tolerable downside).
      - closetohome 4y ago

2000UltraDeluxe 4y ago

The idea's nice. I'll still have about 30 unusable micro-USB chargers lying around, though.

asutekku 4y ago
Sure, doesn't still mean we should stagnate and be forced to use tech that is basically obsolete for a modern world's requirements.
- rob_c 4y ago
  I wouldn't stand on the hill of this is obsolete tech, there should be more devices built with power efficiency from the ground up as well as less focus on the USBC charges your phone faster. This is more about usbc will charge every device you have in a few years so no reaching for custom chargers. Usbc->X cables however are another matter nothing is stopping HP making a custom usbc->HP port for their laptops for instance
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- spacexsucks 4y ago
  Basically obsolete. As someone who uses a 7 yr old ipad, a 10 yr old windows phone and a 9 yr old Nexus 7 this is hot garbage
  - asutekku 4y ago
    Just because you are using old tech with a connector that's prone to break and is not able to transfer data quickly doesn't mean everyone else has to.
    - erddfre3423 4y ago
      Everyone else should not have a choice to buy new equipment as cheap as they can do today, whenever they wish. That's simply not sustainable.
ChuckNorris89 4y ago
That's how progress works though. Would you rather be stuck with micro-USB technical limitations to this day instead?
JumpCrisscross 4y ago
This almost certainly prompts a USB-C iPhone followed by a portless one. (I don’t think they’re thin enough yet for USB-C to be structurally compromising.) In the box will either be no charger or a wireless charger with a USB-C port, thereby technically meeting the requirement.
kalleboo 4y ago
Interesting, I've never seen a charger with microUSB permanently attached, all my chargers have a USB-A port where you can change the cable. In any case, you can just stick tiny plug adapters on all your chargers. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G54XXZZ/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G54XXZZ/
- vladvasiliu 4y ago
  I have an old Blackberry charger that has the cord attached, and I'm pretty sure I also have some old Samsung charger that's the same. But they're clearly quite rare.
  - 2000UltraDeluxe 4y ago
    I've got a whole bunch of them, actually. Luckily, they can be repurposed for older Pi models.
- ThatPlayer 4y ago
  Off the top of my head, the Official Raspberry Pi Power Supplies, for both the microUSB and USB-C variants are permanently attached cables.
pornel 4y ago
Cables, not chargers. Your chargers are USB-A, and you can make them usable with an A-to-C cable. There are no chargers with micro-USB output port (USB never specified such thing). Micro-USB has been designed to make cables essentially disposable (and not meant to be hardwired into any device), because the more robust side of the connector is in the device's port, and the fragile side is in the cable.
- Sohcahtoa82 4y ago
  > Micro-USB has been designed to make cables essentially disposable [..], because the more robust side of the connector is in the device's port, and the fragile side is in the cable. In my experience, this wasn't true. I had both a tablet and a phone that had the charging port fail. If I didn't apply a constant sideways force on the cable, it wouldn't charge. Tried other cables to make sure it wasn't a bad cable, but still had the same problem.
- vineyardmike 4y ago
  > There are no chargers with micro-USB output port https://www.amazon.com/CanaKit-Raspberry-Supply-Adapter-Listed/dp/B00MARDJZ4/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=22SR58WW8T5B8&keywords=raspberry+pi+3+power+supply&qid=1654621873&sprefix=raspbery+pi+3+%2Caps%2C1588&sr=8-3 https://www.amazon.com/CanaKit-Raspberry-Supply-Adapter-List...
- mlyle 4y ago
  > There are no chargers with micro-USB output port (USB never specified such thing I have several chargers with a brick and a permanently attached micro-USB cable that came with devices. One from Samsung; a couple from Grandcentral; a few for Raspberry Pis.
- floxy 4y ago
  >There are no chargers with micro-USB output port https://duckduckgo.com/?q=microusb+AC+adapter&t=ffab&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images https://duckduckgo.com/?q=microusb+AC+adapter&t=ffab&iar=ima...

rob_c 4y ago

Great until you have some "sales rep" in a supermarket dealing with a Karen who's device won't charge fast enough off a 10W USBC charger that fundamentally isn't the same as a 60W one.

kalleboo 4y ago
That's not new to USB-C though, there was already a wide range of charging speeds on USB-A
- vladvasiliu 4y ago
  Yeah, but now there are the bonus points for a "fastish" USB-A charger (QC something, that puts out ~20W) which won't do anything to a laptop that requires "PD", even though the 20W would be enough to at least slowly charge the battery while off.
  - Tijdreiziger 4y ago
    Legacy fast charging was always a mess of competing proprietary standards. A charger adhering to one standard (e.g. Samsung AFC or Oppo VOOC) wouldn't fast charge a phone using a different standard (e.g. Qualcomm QC or Apple 2.4A). https://www.androidauthority.com/fast-charging-explained-2-889780/ https://www.androidauthority.com/fast-charging-explained-2-8...
- rob_c 4y ago
  Kind of is new when all of the specs rely on cable capability and not all manufacturers label different cables differently. The spec for what it is, is a mess, but it's a nice, nay, highly desirable form factor.

D13Fd 4y ago

It does stop innovation in things like lightning and MagSafe. And it doesn’t fix the multiple charger issue either, because so many manufacturers don’t adhere to the USB-C standard that any combination of charger + cable + device has an unreasonably non-zero chance of not working or even damaging the device. So in the end we still have to have multiple chargers, but now we can roll the dice on which one works with or damages which device because they all use the same connector.

Majestic121 4y ago
It does not stop innovation like MagSafe : https://www.amazon.com/Magnetic-Adapter-Connector-Transfer-Compatible/dp/B07TT6NGBC https://www.amazon.com/Magnetic-Adapter-Connector-Transfer-C... I'm not sure what you mean by 'unreasonably non-zero', but I've been sharing chargers between Macbook, XPS 13 and Thinkpad with no concern, + a charger from amazon. Some charger are less powerful than others, so charge is not always as quick, but in real life it does not matter : it's still charging fast enough in any combination, and for the last year the only reason I have multiple chargers is to have one at home and one at work, but any laptop works well on all chargers.
- kansface 4y ago
  You shouldn’t use a lower wattage charger so it goes.
  - Majestic121 4y ago
    I have seen it in some forums as well, but do you have any explanation links about why that may be ? I have trouble finding relevant information that is not some random dude on a forum speaking very confidently one way or another without much data to back it up, and I don't see why that would cause any harm other than charging more slowly, eventually to the point of discharging if you consume a lot of power (which is a pretty tolerable downside).
    - closetohome 4y ago