USB Type-C is still a mess

Post by kevin_b_er » Mon, Jun 11, 2018, 5:53 PM UTC

bluedino wrote: post #41

I finally broke down and bought a generic USB-C charger (Insignia from Best Buy) to keep in the shop, because enough USB-C laptops come through and nobody ever brings a charger. But just because a laptop has USB-C ports doesn't mean you can charge using it, here's looking at you, Lenovo P51. This machine is a workstation and requires 130W, USB-C can only supply 100W so it won't charge at all over USB-C. Blah. Also ha…

Post by pdpi » Mon, Jun 11, 2018, 5:54 PM UTC

MBCook wrote: post #78

pdpi wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A dongle would be required in most cases to connect to an external display in any case Is it? You'd need to be using a display that provides neither DisplayPort nor HDMI. HDMI tends to be available on even somewhat older displays, and most modern ones I've dealt with definitely have both.

The equivalent Macs to the MacBook One would have had mini-DP. I don’t think they had HDMI. So you’d need an adapter.

Post by imran3740 » Mon, Jun 11, 2018, 5:55 PM UTC

MBCook wrote: post #82

imran3740 wrote: post #27

> Port shortages Would it hurt anyone to put two USB-C ports on a smartphone? Thank goodness my phone still has a 3.5mm jack, but some people would like to charge their phone and listen to (wired) audio without having to buy an adapter. And it's not like this is an uncommon use case either, anecdotally some of my friends with iPhones face this issue.

Would you really have a second USB-C port over just keeping the headphone jack?

Post by andromeduck » Mon, Jun 11, 2018, 5:56 PM UTC

thfuran wrote: post #74

mikeash wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can’t make that assumption at the end. These cables are as thin as they can possibly be to carry the maximum current they’re rated for. That maximum current could be 0.5A or it could be 5A. Try to pull 5A through a cable rated for 0.5A and you’re likely to burn the customer’s house down. You can’t really measure the resistance of the cable from one end. You can try to guess by watching for a voltage drop as you p…

Wait, so a USB-C cable cannot be a completely passive component?

Post by akvadrako » Mon, Jun 11, 2018, 5:58 PM UTC

MBCook wrote: post #24

DaiPlusPlus wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand Lightning is a worse connector because it places the “moving parts” (the bendable pins) in the recipient “female” socket in the host device which is subject to more wear-and-tear than the insertable plug which is on the cable which is more disposable. USB-C corrects this by placing more of the mechanical complexity in the plug again - though I’m wary of the thin plastic “tongue” in the socket.

The rumor I remember hearing is that Apple designed USB-C after Lightning and gave it to the standards board because they wanted to get rid of USB-A on their laptops. But to get it to work they didn’t take credit and let Google have the first product with it (a Chromebook?).