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USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

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Re: USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

#401
I like it

I bought the original USB-C-only Macbook and I loved it. Now I have a Macbook Pro at home and another Macbook Pro at work, four Thunderbolt ports on each.

I think the big problem is the fact that it's still very implementation dependent and, as the author said, it's easy to get peripherals (particularly power-related) that don't do what you expected them to do. Then again, I have the same problem with USB1&2. How many times have you bought a cable and found that it only carries power, not data, because it only has two wires inside? That has happened to me dozens of times over the past decade. Still happens today. But when you get peripherals that work, USB-C and Thunderbolt3 are terrific. I don't use and peripherals at home. I have a dock on my desk at work that gives me gigabit ethernet, external keyboard and mouse, external hard drive, two displays, power, and headphones all through one Thunderbolt cable that takes one second to plug or unplug. It's terrific.

I remember old men ranting when the iMac didn't have a floppy drive, how it needed more serial ports, parallel ports, and fewer USB ports because no one uses USB, it's too expensive and it's never going to be practical. Those arguments didn't age well. USB-C is rolling out more slowly than previous options, but it is rolling out and it's terrific.

Re: USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

#402

USB-C is mostly a mess if you try to get away using the cheapest adapters/cables you can find, that often times won't follow the spec. Most of the issues vanish if you use high-end cables/adapters from reputable manufacturers. This is a departure from the world of Micro USB where most cheap cables worked just as good as "high end" cables. There are caveats. For example, my Nintendo Switch, a major electronics device…

Right, that's what I'd call a mess. The purpose of a standard should be that if a product conforms to it, the consumer can trust that the product will work. That isn't the case with USB-C. I've had some "USB-C" cables that can charge but not transmit video, some that can transmit video but not charge, and some that can do both. It shouldn't be possible to sell a cable that can't do both and call it USB-C.

You can't have a cable that transmits video and does not charge. Even when using USB-C for video, e.g. displayport, it negotiates through a USB 2.0 connection which guarantees 5V @ 500mA.

Re: USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

#403
post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Micro-USB was better. Especially since there are still so many existing devices that used micro-USB ports.

No, those cables are not durable at all. Cheap or expensive, they don't last more than a few months with heavy use.

Yet, over the years, I've only had one or two break. I have years-old Motorola micro usb cables that still work perfectly, and which are still in use. They were not all garbage.

Re: USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

#404
post #229

It's honestly such a complete joke it's not even funny anymore. My USB-C MacBook Pro with it's pathetic two ports that my work bought for me is now old enough that the battery is starting to fail and we're still in a world where this single cable for power, screen and ports just doesn't seem to really exist. I'm starting to be convinced the port is fundamentally flawed, dongles with multiple ports are never reliable…

Its not USB-C so much as those MBP ports are a bit buggy. Depending on the model, you might have better success if you try the port that's on the other side of the laptop.

I agree, I have an Apple dongle and it glitches too, albeit less often than the non Apple dongles.

Sometimes even my Apple keyboard won't work connected to the dongle, I have to put in and out a few times for it to work.

Things that never happened with old USB cables.

Re: USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

#405

USB-C is mostly a mess if you try to get away using the cheapest adapters/cables you can find, that often times won't follow the spec. Most of the issues vanish if you use high-end cables/adapters from reputable manufacturers. This is a departure from the world of Micro USB where most cheap cables worked just as good as "high end" cables. There are caveats. For example, my Nintendo Switch, a major electronics device…

Another caveat is that many monitors have USB-C ports, but many (most?) cables do not support video. Even my cable from a luxury brand in Cupertino doesn't support it, so it's not just about sticking to famous brands. I'm not sure how a regular consumer is supposed to understand this. In the past, it wasn't possible to plug a VGA cable into a PS/2 port. Now, you just have to know these hidden properties of each cable…

By any passive thunderbolt 3 cable from apple (longest is up to 0.8m) and you are guaranteed to have displayport and thunderbolt 3 support, in addition to USB3.

Re: USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

#407

It's honestly such a complete joke it's not even funny anymore. My USB-C MacBook Pro with it's pathetic two ports that my work bought for me is now old enough that the battery is starting to fail and we're still in a world where this single cable for power, screen and ports just doesn't seem to really exist. I'm starting to be convinced the port is fundamentally flawed, dongles with multiple ports are never reliable…

Have you tried powered adapters? That's what I'm using and I've had zero problems. This includes adding things that wouldn't work with a passive adapter.

Re: USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

#408

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't actually own a Switch, but my partner and I both charge our laptops (mine a Dell XPS, hers a MacBook) from the same after-market USB-C charging bricks. I don't love that it's like this, but basically the product page just lists every known-to-work device, including Nintendo Switch: https://www.amazon.ca/Charger-Adapter-Replacement-Thinkpad-M... Now, I'm a cheapskate, so most of my electronics are older device…

Word of warning, for those reading this far: The Switch and Switch Dock are not USB-C devices. That you’re able to plug in a USB-C charger or USB-C device and see it supposedly work just means that you haven’t yet encountered the scenario(s) that can electronically damage the Switch. Nintendo’s warranty does not cover this damage when it occurs, requiring a full-cost repair or replacement as you connected unlicensed…

They're not but the tech specs have the words USB-C right there. https://www.nintendo.com/switch/tech-specs/

It is very annoying.

Re: USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

#409

USB-C is mostly a mess if you try to get away using the cheapest adapters/cables you can find, that often times won't follow the spec. Most of the issues vanish if you use high-end cables/adapters from reputable manufacturers. This is a departure from the world of Micro USB where most cheap cables worked just as good as "high end" cables. There are caveats. For example, my Nintendo Switch, a major electronics device…

Ironically, if you used the fancier cables with the Pi4 instead of cheap ones, it won't power on. Which supports the "mess" argument, and another example of manufacturers are the culprit.

(Yes, I know it's been firmware fixed.)

Re: USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

#410
post #49

Really? I find it to be a game changer for me. The fact that my laptop, Switch, iPad, and several other devices can all share a charge has made my life much easier. I can just sprinkle a few of them throughout the house and never be without power. Before it was always a hunt to find a cable, or I had to be in [x] room to charge [y] device because that's where the charger lived. Plus, I can charge my MacBook on either…

Nintendo says you shouldn't use anything except 1st party cables with the Switch. There were articles a couple of years ago talking about Switches being bricked. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/08/heres-why-nintendo-sw...

Why are they saying 'bricked' when they mean they were destroyed? 'Bricking' is normally a firmware issue.

Do we say that a car was 'bricked' when we trash it in an accident?

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