4 ms·

Unpopular opinion here, but I wish Apple would enforce the use of USB-C power delivery, so either a cable works within the negotiated parameters, or it doesn't.

Unpopular opinion here, but I wish Apple would enforce the use of USB-C power delivery, so either a cable works within the negotiated parameters, or it doesn't. It is a bit of a mess, but it is currently the best we have. Frankly, the fact that USB-IF almost released charging standards as an afterthought, was a huge mistake. Now we have extremely popular stuff (Raspberry Pi, Nintendo Switch) running on 20W or 40W chargers, which are non compliant.

bombcar 4y ago
I agree, I'd rather have the cables NOT WORK AT ALL (or popup some horrible error message first) rather than charge at some abysmally slow rate.
- Turing_Machine 4y ago
  > ather than charge at some abysmally slow rate Or (much) worse, catch fire.
  - bombcar 4y ago
    I mean at least when it catches fire I know something's wrong ...
    - rnk 4y ago
      That feels like a theoretical problem that very rarely occurs in practice. I have had many USBC devices including Apple Max but many other Macs that take USBC at higher than 15 watts and I've never had a problem. There's just no reason for this apple attempt to stick on the wasted money train.
      - Turing_Machine 4y ago
        I've definitely had off-brand charging cables get hot before.
ianburrell 4y ago
What do you mean enforce use of power delivery? I think it is better to charge with what is available. They should show the wattage or power in the battery indicator popup. Then people can find better charger. What I hate are devices that refuse to charge on low power. I have Surface Go that only charges on PD not 3A. Before I figured this out, I would leave on standard charger and wonder why took forever to charge.
- manuelabeledo 4y ago
  The alternative is to mess devices up. The issue with USB-C is that the port fits everywhere, but wattages may be wildly different. I have an early Nintendo Switch, which I rather not play and charge at the same time except with an official Nintendo adapter, because it overdraws power while running games such as Breath of the Wild. I also have a travel router with a 20W power adapter, at 5V and 4A. Not too big of an issue at lower loads, but it will crash if I plug a hard drive in its USB port. And what's the point of standards if they are not enforced, anyway?
  - error503 4y ago
    Without USB-PD, existing phones will already limit their charge current, and Android at least will say 'charging slowly'. The place to enforce USB-PD is at the source, which is what is happening in your described scenario. Yes, sinks should definitely honour their power contracts, but phones generally already do this (they need to work with 500mA, 2A, and potential faster chargers without overloading them), and don't usually have power-sucking peripherals attached that will mess up their actual draw. > Not too big of an issue at lower loads, but it will crash if I plug a hard drive in its USB port. This hard drive probably violates USB spec, as most spinning disks do.
    - manuelabeledo 4y ago
      > The place to enforce USB-PD is at the source, which is what is happening in your described scenario. Which source? The charger or the device? Because either could be at fault. > This hard drive probably violates USB spec, as most spinning disks do. It's a SSD from a well-known manufacturer, with a power draw of less than 4W at full load.

bombcar 4y ago

I agree, I'd rather have the cables NOT WORK AT ALL (or popup some horrible error message first) rather than charge at some abysmally slow rate.

Turing_Machine 4y ago
> ather than charge at some abysmally slow rate Or (much) worse, catch fire.
- bombcar 4y ago
  I mean at least when it catches fire I know something's wrong ...
  - rnk 4y ago
    That feels like a theoretical problem that very rarely occurs in practice. I have had many USBC devices including Apple Max but many other Macs that take USBC at higher than 15 watts and I've never had a problem. There's just no reason for this apple attempt to stick on the wasted money train.
    - Turing_Machine 4y ago
      I've definitely had off-brand charging cables get hot before.

ianburrell 4y ago

What do you mean enforce use of power delivery? I think it is better to charge with what is available. They should show the wattage or power in the battery indicator popup. Then people can find better charger. What I hate are devices that refuse to charge on low power. I have Surface Go that only charges on PD not 3A. Before I figured this out, I would leave on standard charger and wonder why took forever to charge.

manuelabeledo 4y ago
The alternative is to mess devices up. The issue with USB-C is that the port fits everywhere, but wattages may be wildly different. I have an early Nintendo Switch, which I rather not play and charge at the same time except with an official Nintendo adapter, because it overdraws power while running games such as Breath of the Wild. I also have a travel router with a 20W power adapter, at 5V and 4A. Not too big of an issue at lower loads, but it will crash if I plug a hard drive in its USB port. And what's the point of standards if they are not enforced, anyway?
- error503 4y ago
  Without USB-PD, existing phones will already limit their charge current, and Android at least will say 'charging slowly'. The place to enforce USB-PD is at the source, which is what is happening in your described scenario. Yes, sinks should definitely honour their power contracts, but phones generally already do this (they need to work with 500mA, 2A, and potential faster chargers without overloading them), and don't usually have power-sucking peripherals attached that will mess up their actual draw. > Not too big of an issue at lower loads, but it will crash if I plug a hard drive in its USB port. This hard drive probably violates USB spec, as most spinning disks do.
  - manuelabeledo 4y ago
    > The place to enforce USB-PD is at the source, which is what is happening in your described scenario. Which source? The charger or the device? Because either could be at fault. > This hard drive probably violates USB spec, as most spinning disks do. It's a SSD from a well-known manufacturer, with a power draw of less than 4W at full load.