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The Impossible Dream of USB-C (marco.org)

Posted by msmash on from the not-there-yet dept.

Marco Arment, a prominent developer best known for co-founding Tumblr, explains things that are still crippling USB-C, despite being around for years and being used in mainstream products. Arment writes: While a wide variety of USB-C dongles are available, most use the same handful of unreliable, mediocre chips inside. Some USB-A dongles make Wi-Fi drop on MacBook Pros. Some USB-A devices don't work properly when adapted to USB-C, or only work in certain ports. Some devices only work when plugged directly into a laptop's precious few USB-C ports, rather than any hubs or dongles. And reliable HDMI output seems nearly impossible in practice. Very few hubs exist to add more USB-C ports, so if you have more than a few peripherals, you can't just replace all of their cables with USB-C versions. You'll need a hub that provides multiple USB-A ports instead, and you'll need to keep your USB-A cables for when you're plugged into the hub -- but also keep USB-C cables or dongles around for everything you might ever need to plug directly into the computer's ports. Hubs with additional USB-C ports might pass Thunderbolt through to them, but usually don't. Sometimes, they add a USB-C port that can only be used for power passthrough. Many hubs with power passthrough have lower wattage limits than a 13-inch or 15-inch laptop needs. Fortunately, USB-C is a great charging standard. Well, it's more of a collection of standards. USB-C devices can charge via the slow old USB rates, but for higher-powered devices or faster charging, that's not enough current.

3 of 350 comments (clear)

  1. I'll start using it by JohnFen · · Score: 5, Interesting

    USB-C doesn't solve any problem I have, so I'm not going to go out of my way for it and am not particularly excited about it. But I won't resist it, either. I'll adopt is as devices I use switch to it.

  2. Re:Summary by AmiMoJo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This. I've been using USB-C for a while on Windows 8.1 and it's fine. Everything works as you would expect.

    The only issue I had was with MTP for file transfer, but that turned out to be a software issue and the patch last month fixed it. USB-C itself though has been great, even with cheap cables.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  3. Re:Stopped reading by ndnet · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I think part of the problem is that this is a complex issue that it's really hard to boil down to bullet points. Let's see:
    • - USB-C connectors are a huge upgrade w/r/t size/sturdiness/reversibility (nice)
    • - The USB-C connector was so good that it was rushed to market (bad)
    • - USB-C connectors don't tell you anything else about the device or cables (bad)
    • - The fact that USB-C makes no modern minimum speed guarantees - ie, there are USB-C devices with USB 2.0 signaling, like the Nexus 6P (bad)
    • - USB-3.1+ 'Alternate Mode' is confusing because you can't tell from the port which, if any, are supported at all (bad)
    • - USB Charging standards are mediocre. At least you theoretically can charge a phone with a charger you haven't researched. (bad)
    • - Quick Charge was a great interim step by one large manufacturer but needs to die because it's not open at all (bad)
    • - USB PD seems to be hard for manufacturers to get right, and as such there's risk - see the Nathan K. / Google stuff (bad)
    • - Part of the problem is that the 3.1+ chipsets are still immature, and we were just starting to get USB 3.0 down right (bad)
    • - Losing the audio jack to USB-C may be more bad-PR than a frequent actual inconvenience, but either way it's (bad)

    So, except for that first bullet point, we are in the worst USB timeline. Still, even as bullet points, it's describing a mess.