4 ms·
Maybe it’s news to iPhone people (and I say this as someone whose only used iPhones since he got a smartphone over a decade ago other than for 6 months where I
by addicted 3y ago
Maybe it’s news to iPhone people (and I say this as someone whose only used iPhones since he got a smartphone over a decade ago other than for 6 months where I used a Windows phone and 3 months of an Android phone), USB-C wasn’t invented with the iPhone 15.
It’s been around a long time and most people have managed just fine, and absolutely loved the common cable. And everyone hated the iPhone user because you had to pull out a new cable to charge it.
- scarface_74 3y agoGrab a random USB C cable. Now answer a few questions. 1. What speed does the cable support? 2. How much data does the cable support? 3. Can it support video over USB-C?
- hedora 3y ago4. Is it capable of charging this device? 5. Is it capable of charging devices when plugged into this charger? 6. If it can charge this combination of things, what wattage can it charge at?
- zlsa 3y ago4. Yes, all USB-C to USB-C cables can charge at a minimum of 60W which should be sufficient to charge almost anything 5. It depends, but the output capacity is printed on the power supply[0]. (Compare to USB-A, where the most you could do is 12W.) 6. The minimum of the cable (60W for any cable, 100W for some cables, 240W for a very few[1]) and the charger [0] Annoyingly, this problem is compounded when using a power supply that can output (say) 100W on one USB-C port, but when both are used, the limit on the two ports is 60W / 40W. [1] There are vanishingly few products (power supplies, cables, and devices) that support USB EPR. If you have one of these, just use the power supply and cable the device came with; this is no worse a situation than with devices that used proprietary power cables.
- Max-q 3y ago4) A USB 2 cable with USB-C in both ends can't 60W.
- scarface_74 3y agoAnd this is kind of the point, if HN commenters can’t figure this stuff out, what are the chances that normal people can? Speaking of which, every time I ask the question about “tell me just from looking at a USB C cord…”, I learn something new.
- smoldesu 3y ago> if HN commenters can’t figure this stuff out, what are the chances that normal people can? Plugging it in would probably be a good start. I can't name a single time where I've ever mistakenly identified a USB-C cable. Sometimes I've plugged it in when it wasn't connected to the wall, but I think worrying about non-compliant USB-C cables is no more relevant than caring about non-MFI certified Lightning cables.
- scarface_74 3y agoUntil you take a USB C cable with you in your laptop bag to connect with your portable USB C external monitor that gets power and video from one USB C cable and find out you have the wrong USB C cable with you.
- smoldesu 3y agoHate to say it, but it's entirely PEBCAK to not select a Thunderbolt cable when they want DisplayPort alt-mode. It's why the damn cable and marketing even exists in the first place. 99% of people only care about power (and optionally data), so that's what the spec focuses on.
- scarface_74 3y ago
- crote 3y agoThese would be absolutely trivial to answer if the manufacturer followed the "cable logos" guidelines[0] - but pretty much every manufacturer conveniently seems to forget those. [0]: https://www.usb.org/sites/default/files/usb-if_usb_type-c_cable_logo_usage_guidelines_final_20230818.pdf https://www.usb.org/sites/default/files/usb-if_usb_type-c_ca...