Schrödinger's USB-C, you only know if it supports what you want after you plug it in : memes

[-] pingveno@lemmy.ml 83 points 8 months ago

On the plus side, no USB-A quantum mechanics.

[-] KyuubiNoKitsune 11 points 8 months ago

I thought it was a 4th dimension thing?

[-] pingveno@lemmy.ml 8 points 8 months ago

[-] Pazuzu@midwest.social 8 points 8 months ago

lies, sometimes I still need to flip usb-c to get it in. there's still a hidden dimension there, it's just better hidden than before

[-] pearsaltchocolatebar@discuss.online 62 points 8 months ago

Gotta love troubleshooting your data connection before you realize you grabbed a power only cable.

[-] Anticorp@lemmy.world 31 points 8 months ago

Such things should not be allowed to exist.

[-] pearsaltchocolatebar@discuss.online 39 points 8 months ago

No, there's a good reason for them to exist, but they should be marked as such.

[-] Anticorp@lemmy.world 8 points 8 months ago

What's the reason? A slightly cheaper cable where data isn't needed?

[-] Sparkega@lemmy.world 63 points 8 months ago

Eliminates a malicious threat vector. Gives you piece of mind to charge your devices without worry that what you connect to is going to interact with your device.

[-] InformalTrifle@lemmy.world 8 points 8 months ago

*Peace of mind

[-] Sparkega@lemmy.world 4 points 8 months ago

I’ll give you a piece of my mind.

Just kidding. Thanks for the correction

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[-] eyeon@lemmy.world 26 points 8 months ago

it's also safer when wanting to charge from untrusted chargers, though you can still get an adapter to block the data pins or just bring your own wall charger/battery when traveling

[-] flashgnash@lemm.ee 3 points 8 months ago

I think power only cables should exist because they are significantly cheaper, but they should have some kind of marking to differentiate them enforced by the standard

[-] Zamundaaa@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 8 months ago

They are afaik not allowed to exist with USB C. And except for some very few very sketchy manufacturers, it's also luckily not a thing in practice.

[-] JCreazy@midwest.social 55 points 8 months ago

It's not the cables that are the issue, it's the manufacturer that don't design their products to USB C specification so they don't charge via C to C cable like it should.

[-] eyeon@lemmy.world 23 points 8 months ago

see https://learn.adafruit.com/understanding-usb-type-c-cable-types-pitfalls-and-more/cable-types-and-differences for all the various things the cable alone can support

what devices can support is definitely an issue too though.

[-] JCreazy@midwest.social 4 points 8 months ago

I understand that, but I've had USB C devices for almost a decade. I only buy full featured cables so it hasn't been an issue, at least for me. Any time a device comes with a cable it goes into the trash.

[-] lemmyman@lemmy.world 21 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

So you see the issue and have a workaround. Good! But that doesn't mean that, as you said, "it's not the cables that are the issue." Why throw them away if they're not an issue?

[-] JCreazy@midwest.social 3 points 8 months ago

I don't need 36 cables that I'll never use. I have a charger and cable in my living room, kitchen, bedroom, office, basement, and car. Those cables will charge almost every electronic device I own, 8 of them currently within eyesight.

[-] can@sh.itjust.works 9 points 8 months ago

At least donate them.

[-] evranch@lemmy.ca 3 points 8 months ago

But then someone else will end up with these bunk cables. They really should have demanded mandatory identification on the cable ends.

[-] unique_hemp@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 8 months ago

The cables can also be an issue though.

[-] Wilzax@lemmy.world 39 points 8 months ago

I just buy Anker for everything and as a result most of my cables do what I expect them to.

[-] MashedTech@lemmy.world 5 points 8 months ago

I love baseus.

[-] Cort@lemmy.world 29 points 8 months ago

Nah, pretty sure this one's usb2.0 just by looking at it

[-] jodanlime@midwest.social 11 points 8 months ago

It does look kinda sketchy for a full 3.0+ data cable. Could be one of those stupid charging only cables.

[-] 8000gnat@reddthat.com 14 points 8 months ago

dang theres a batman beyond meme format going around?

[-] uis@lemmy.world 14 points 8 months ago

It's just cable

[-] WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world 5 points 8 months ago

No, it's Batman.

[+] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world 8 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

[deleted]

[-] BorgDrone@lemmy.one 46 points 8 months ago

Doesn’t matter much. Is it a 7.5W cable, or maybe a 15W, 45W, 60W, 100W, 140W or 240W cable ? Does it support USB 2.0 (480Mbps), 3.1 gen1 (5Gbps), 3.1 gen2 (10Gbps), does it support Thunderbolt, and if so the 20Gbit or 40Gbit version ? Does it support DisplayPort alt mode?

You can’t tell any of this from looking at the cable. It’s a terrible mess.

[-] PassingThrough@lemmy.world 20 points 8 months ago

The worst part is, I could accept that as a generational flaw. The newer ones get better, the olds ones lying around do less. OK, that’s the beast of progress.

But no. They still make cables today that do power only. They still do cables that do everything except video. Why? Save a couple cents. Make dollars off multiple product lines, etc. Money.

What could have been the cable to end all cables…just continued to make USB a laughing stock of confusion.

Don’t even get me started on the device side implementations…

[-] BorgDrone@lemmy.one 10 points 8 months ago

That’s because it doesn’t make sense to use an €40 cable when a €1 cable would do.

[-] shinratdr@lemmy.ca 14 points 8 months ago

Agreed, but not requiring labeling or some sort of method to identify was a real fuckup on their part.

My problem isn’t the existence of different tiers of cable, it’s that there is literally no way to know if the cable you’re using supports something until you try it.

[-] BorgDrone@lemmy.one 6 points 8 months ago

Agreed, but not requiring labeling or some sort of method to identify was a real fuckup on their part.

Yeah, we used to have that. It was great. They even made it so you couldn’t even fit the wrong cable in a port. They did that by having different connectors for different cables.

[-] shinratdr@lemmy.ca 2 points 8 months ago

Yeah but with modern thin & light mobile devices, that’s a bad solution. Then you need multiple holes to serve multiple purposes, which impacts waterproofing and requires extra space & hardware.

One port to rule them all makes sense. But it should have had a way to identify cables capability at a glance. I still prefer having one cable that can charge all my devices, even if the trade off is some confusing situations when it comes to cable capability.

[-] HerrBeter@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

Cable hell

[-] Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 3 points 8 months ago

Is this true? There's no app to test these by plugging them into your phone? No chip in them that encodes a spec sheet?

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[-] shinratdr@lemmy.ca 21 points 8 months ago

This is absolutely not a “US under regulation thing”, that makes no sense. What “regulation” would dictate what a connector carries over its cable? That would be compliance with the spec, and the spec is a connector.

USB-C can carry USB 2.0, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 4.0, PD, DisplayPort, wattages from 5w to 100w & Thunderbolt 4. No one cable would be required to carry all those or all cables would be $50/ft.

Just because you’ve never encountered a USB-C power only cable doesn’t mean they don’t exist in your country. They’re made by the bucketload in China, and you’ll encounter one soon enough.

[-] vsis@feddit.cl 5 points 8 months ago

Modern problem: *exists

thAt bEcaUse le USA baD

[-] Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 2 points 8 months ago

How long can that last? Only a matter Of time before the Gideons start leaving them in hotel rooms and then before you know usb power cables are out and about like an invasive species.

[-] PassingThrough@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

Actually, that leads me to another point:

One upon a time, the concept behind a universal USB-C connector was so we could do exactly that.

Laptop? Phone? Camera? America? Germany? Japan? Power? Connect the to TV? Internet?

Wouldn’t matter anymore. USB-C to cover it all. Voltage high for the laptop, low for the camera, all available just the same in every country, universal. So yes, fill the airports and hotels with them. Use them for power and to play videos on the TV. Because we weren’t supposed to have to question the voltage or abilities of the ports and cables in use.

Did/will that future materialize?

[-] gayhitler420@lemm.ee 2 points 8 months ago

It will never happen.

No one’s gonna buy a $30 cable rated for 100w and 120fps video to charge their phone. They’re gonna buy the $5 one at the gas station that’s only rated for low power charging.

No manufacturer is gonna put the hardware to safely deliver 100w in their phone charger. They’re gonna do the cheaper lower power option, and people already say the ones that do include this functionality are greedy price gougers for charging more than the $5 low power charger at the gas station.

How soon before manufacturers start stripping those high power delivering ports out of laptops because they raise the risk of permanent damage under a failure too high for the market/brand to bear?

It’s no fun to be laughing at the people who all wanted a usbc-only world and are now having to live in it but here we are.

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[-] vsis@feddit.cl 4 points 8 months ago

I'm too lazy to label them. So, I usually keep the PDs connected to the charger and that's it.

But if it becomes a problem I'll probably use a wire labeler.

It would be nice if they came labeled from factory, though.

[-] InputZero@lemmy.ml 5 points 8 months ago

Coloured electrical tape, way cheaper than wire labels if you only have a few to mark.

[-] ilinamorato@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago

I honestly have never had this issue with USB-C. A and Micro, absolutely. Mini, every day from like 2004-2007. But never C.

Have I just been buying all the right cables without knowing it?

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