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It's 2018 and USB Type-C Is Still a Mess (androidauthority.com)

An anonymous reader shares a column: USB Type-C was billed as the solution for all our future cable needs, unifying power and data delivery with display and audio connectivity, and ushering in an age of the one-size-fits-all cable. Unfortunately for those already invested in the USB Type-C ecosystem, which is anyone who has bought a flagship phone in the past couple of years, the standard has probably failed to live up to the promises. Even the seemingly most basic function of USB Type-C -- powering devices -- has become a mess of compatibility issues, conflicting proprietary standards, and a general lack of consumer information to guide purchasing decisions. The problem is that the features supported by different devices aren't clear, yet the defining principle of the USB Type-C standard makes consumers think everything should just work.

The charging example clearly demonstrates a very common frustration with the standard as it currently stands. Moving phones between different chargers, even of the same current and voltage ratings, often won't produce the same charging speeds. Furthermore, picking a third party USB Type-C cable to replace the typically too short included cable can result in losing fast charging capabilities.

7 of 330 comments (clear)

  1. Re:No surprise by The+Fat+Bastard · · Score: 2, Informative

    Input devices like keyboards, mice, trackballs and drawing tablets are USB1.

  2. The 100W limit is the big problem we still see by greenwow · · Score: 3, Informative

    It sucks to plug your laptop in to your $250+ USB-C docking station then have the battery die before the end of the day since most high-end laptops need more power than that.

  3. Re:apple missed it with too few ports when 1 is ne by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1, Informative

    And they also dropped the ball by removing the classic USB 3.0 type A ports at the same time. What was the point of that? You can have both USB 3.0 and USB-C on the same computer.

    And you can use any USB 3.0 device with a USB-C port with a cable change or a $2 passive adapter.

    Now what?

  4. Re:No surprise by sexconker · · Score: 2, Informative

    I've had very little problems getting USB 2.0 or 3.0 speeds over most USB 1.1 cables under 6 feet in length.

    Really? Your USB 1.1 cables have the extra pins necessary for USB 3.0 speeds?

    Stop lying.

  5. Re:The controversial Detect Offbrand Cable feature by omnichad · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's not as bad as all that, just go on Amazon and search for a review by Benson Leung. A Google engineer who has gone all over buying crappy cables and testing whether they meet the specs and are wired correctly.

  6. Re:No surprise by darkain · · Score: 4, Informative

    USB 3, like PCIe, uses multiple serial lanes for increased bandwidth. Each lane is entirely independent with its own synchronization and clock, which is what makes it still a "serial" connection by definition, not a "parallel" connection.

  7. Re:No surprise by lloydchristmas759 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Not to mention that USB 1.1, USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 are not equivalent to a specific speed. Rather, USB 1.1 specifies low speed (1.5Mbit/s) and full speed (12Mbit/s), USB 2.0 adds high speed (480Mbit/s), and USB 3.0 adds superspeed (5.0Gbit/s). But you can very well have e.g. a USB 2.0-compliant device that works only at full speed.

    --
    I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.