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USB-C is about to go from 100W to 240W, enough to power beefier laptops

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11–20 of 498 posts

Re: USB-C is about to go from 100W to 240W, enough to power beefier laptops

#11
I look forward to USB 4.1a Type C.2 Phase iii.b Gen 3E and the 482646282 different cable capability combinations that all plug in and have no distinction of those capabilities whatsoever. I also look forward to all the necessary and helpful posts telling me how the identical ports on my laptop are in fact diffferent despite their identical appearance.

But at least everything uses the same plug, so that’s nice.

Re: USB-C is about to go from 100W to 240W, enough to power beefier laptops

#13
post #9

Plus, if you thread the cable through your hot dog, it will be warm in time for lunch. Meanwhile, Apple's M1 chip is showing us that 240 watt laptops are the problem, not the solution...

Having one USB-C dock powering your laptop (maybe with a hungry GPU), as well as a couple of monitors with everything through just usb-c cables is my hope, and this is one step closer.

At which point do we change assumptions about safety of USB cables though?

Myself and most people I know always considered USB connection to be safe-ish - that is, you can keep the cable connected on the supply side, and have the receiver end just lie on the desk on the floor, and the worst that could possibly happen is some tiny sparking if the stray end touches something conductive in a very unlucky way. But the more power I see pushed through these cables, the more I start to look at them as live wires hooked to mains power.

Additionally, such wattage sounds like a serious fire hazard if the cable is damaged, which means the cables themselves need to be handled with care. Something that wasn't the case with typical USB charging until recently.

Re: USB-C is about to go from 100W to 240W, enough to power beefier laptops

#14
This is pretty good for the people who have such laptops, but I’m just struggling to understand the use case for a laptop. A laptop that consumes that much power can’t possibly have much battery life. At that point, are you getting much portability out of your laptop? Why not just use a desktop?

Re: USB-C is about to go from 100W to 240W, enough to power beefier laptops

#15

I thought the industry was moving away from intel cpus?

GPUs in gaming laptops use WAY more power than even the hungriest mobile CPU. Strong mobile CPUs like the Ryzen 5800H are usually in the 45W ballpark while mobile RTX 3080 class GPUs can go as far as 170W+ and that is still half of what the desktop equivalent can draw.

What's the cooling situation on such a laptop?

Re: USB-C is about to go from 100W to 240W, enough to power beefier laptops

#16
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having one USB-C dock powering your laptop (maybe with a hungry GPU), as well as a couple of monitors with everything through just usb-c cables is my hope, and this is one step closer.

At which point do we change assumptions about safety of USB cables though? Myself and most people I know always considered USB connection to be safe-ish - that is, you can keep the cable connected on the supply side, and have the receiver end just lie on the desk on the floor, and the worst that could possibly happen is some tiny sparking if the stray end touches something conductive in a very unlucky way. But the mo…

I mean, I share that worry, but isn’t the “-PD” part of “USB-PD” a negotiation step?

I have very little worry that my carpet can accidentally negotiate 60w and up.

I _am_ worried about cheap USB-PD devices that forgoe this negotiation as it is complex and expensive to implement.

Re: USB-C is about to go from 100W to 240W, enough to power beefier laptops

#17
post #14

This is pretty good for the people who have such laptops, but I’m just struggling to understand the use case for a laptop. A laptop that consumes that much power can’t possibly have much battery life. At that point, are you getting much portability out of your laptop? Why not just use a desktop?

It's still a mobile form factor.

That's basically why. It's a computer you can take with you, without worry about packaging or needing to bring cables.

Re: USB-C is about to go from 100W to 240W, enough to power beefier laptops

#18
post #14

This is pretty good for the people who have such laptops, but I’m just struggling to understand the use case for a laptop. A laptop that consumes that much power can’t possibly have much battery life. At that point, are you getting much portability out of your laptop? Why not just use a desktop?

> Why not just use a desktop?

Gaming laptops that contain high-end GPUs can consume this much power while charging the battery and running games. And such laptops are still way more portable than a desktop. You can lift the laptop and keep it in your car, drive off and have a gaming PC ready-to-use where ever you end up. Same cannot be done with any desktop.

Re: USB-C is about to go from 100W to 240W, enough to power beefier laptops

#20
post #9

Plus, if you thread the cable through your hot dog, it will be warm in time for lunch. Meanwhile, Apple's M1 chip is showing us that 240 watt laptops are the problem, not the solution...

Having one USB-C dock powering your laptop (maybe with a hungry GPU), as well as a couple of monitors with everything through just usb-c cables is my hope, and this is one step closer.

Meh, I don't know. This seems a pretty niche usage. You'll need a specific USB-C dock to power such a laptop anyway, so why not go the route of the Apple thunderbolt displays, with a dedicated power connector run through the same sleeve as the data one.

In practice, I find the loss of convenience compared to USB-C negligible. You still only have one cable hanging around.

Plus, as those are PCs, said connector wouldn't even need to be something specific, I suppose a random (big enough) DC barrel plug would do and be compatible with different manufacturers' products.

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