{"id":34493,"date":"2021-12-20T15:10:26","date_gmt":"2021-12-20T20:10:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=34493"},"modified":"2024-11-05T14:12:36","modified_gmt":"2024-11-05T19:12:36","slug":"usbefuddled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2021\/12\/20\/usbefuddled\/","title":{"rendered":"USBefuddled"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/tidbits.com\/2021\/12\/03\/usbefuddled-untangling-the-rats-nest-of-usb-c-standards-and-cables\/\">Glenn Fleishman<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/tidbits.com\/2021\/12\/03\/usbefuddled-untangling-the-rats-nest-of-usb-c-standards-and-cables\/\">\n<p>USB-C was supposed to be the last cable you would ever need. It hasn&rsquo;t worked out that way.<\/p>\n<p>[&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p>The problem is that USB-C has become a connector for distinctly different purposes and glancing at a port or cable rarely tells you enough to know what will happen when you plug in the cable. The USB-C connector is supported (but not required) by USB 3.1 and 3.2 and required by USB 4 (and Thunderbolt 3 and 4), even though until version 4 of each specification, they were distinct standards that intertwined.<\/p>\n<p>Plugging in a USB-C cable can raise all sorts of questions. Will you get the maximum speed between two devices? Will you get the wattage you need to power a computer or recharge a USB battery? Will nothing happen at all, with no clue as to why? There&rsquo;s often no way to know, even if the cable&rsquo;s long-ago-discarded packaging actually contained all those answers, because you have to know about the ports on both ends, too.<\/p>\n<p>[&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p>How could the USB-IF improve on this, particularly in cooperation with Intel&rsquo;s Thunderbolt group? The labeling I mocked at the outset is actually the right direction.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p>Previously:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2020\/07\/27\/usb-c-is-still-a-mess\/\">USB-C Is Still a Mess<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2019\/07\/16\/how-many-kinds-of-usb-c-to-usb-c-cables-are-there\/\">How Many Kinds of USB-C to USB-C Cables Are There?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2019\/02\/27\/confusing-usb-3-2-branding\/\">Confusing USB 3.2 Branding<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2017\/10\/14\/the-impossible-dream-of-usb-c\/\">The Impossible Dream of USB-C<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2015\/11\/05\/google-engineer-reviews-usb-c-cables-that-dont-work\/\">Google Engineer Reviews USB-C Cables That Don&rsquo;t Work<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p id=\"usbefuddled-update-2022-04-19\">Update (2022-04-19): <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GlennF\/status\/1516174073692246016\">Glenn Fleishman<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GlennF\/status\/1516174073692246016\">\n<p>Trying to understand the modern flavors of Thunderbolt and USB? Want to know which cable to use and why you&rsquo;re getting slow performance instead of gigabits per second? My new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=USJRbPrFhd8\">video<\/a> explains it all.<\/p>\n<p>Also check out my book, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.takecontrolbooks.com\/untangling\/\">Take Control of Untangling Connections<\/a>, a how-to and reference guide for sorting out the right ports, peripherals, cables, and standards across all mobile, laptop, and desktop hardware.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p id=\"usbefuddled-update-2024-11-04\">Update (2024-11-04): <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/technology\/archive\/2024\/11\/usb-c-is-not-universal\/680502\/\">Ian Bogost<\/a> (via <a href=\"https:\/\/news.ycombinator.com\/item?id=42033578\">Hacker News<\/a>):<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/technology\/archive\/2024\/11\/usb-c-is-not-universal\/680502\/\"><p>This chaos was supposed to end, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/technology\/archive\/2022\/11\/apple-usb-c-charging-cables-iphone-android\/672119\/\">USB-C as our savior<\/a>. The European Union even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.europarl.europa.eu\/news\/en\/press-room\/20220930IPR41928\/long-awaited-common-charger-for-mobile-devices-will-be-a-reality-in-2024\">passed a law<\/a> to make that port the charging standard by the end of this year. I do not live in Europe, and you might not either, but the requirement helped push Apple, which has long insisted on its own <a href=\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/76594-apple-cables-interfaces-connections\/?srsltid=AfmBOorIkRjz00hzyLk50jJOjl4_9n7qQgifizOQ0YskxwN03ImFlQqv\">proprietary plugs<\/a>, to get on board.<\/p><p>[&#8230;]<\/p><p>People think the shape of the plug is the only thing that matters in a cable. It does matter: If you can&rsquo;t plug the thing in, it&rsquo;s useless. But the mere joining of a cable&rsquo;s end with its matching socket is just the threshold challenge, and one that leads to other woes. In fact, a bunch of cables that look the same&mdash;with matching plugs that fit the same-size holes&mdash;may all do different things.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n<p>It&rsquo;s taking a long time time, and I still run into problems now and then, but it does seem like things are getting better.<\/p>\n\n<p>Previously:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/29\/usb-c-magic-mouse-magic-keyboard-and-magic-trackpad\/\">USB-C Magic Mouse, Magic Keyboard, and Magic Trackpad<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2024\/01\/03\/devices-that-are-not-usb-c-in-my-life\/\">Devices That Are Not USB C in My Life<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2023\/10\/18\/usb-c-cables-comparison\/\">USB-C Cables Comparison<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2022\/10\/05\/usb-simplifies-branding-but-reintroduces-active-cables\/\">USB Simplifies Branding But Reintroduces Active Cables<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p id=\"usbefuddled-update-2024-11-05\">Update (2024-11-05): <a href=\"https:\/\/pxlnv.com\/blog\/cursed-to-have-more-connectors\/\">Nick Heer<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/pxlnv.com\/blog\/cursed-to-have-more-connectors\/\">\n<p>We are doomed to repeat this so long as the same connectors and cables describe a wide range of capabilities. But solving that should never be the expectation. We should be glad to unify around standards for at least basic functions like charging and usable data transfer. USB-C faced an uphill battle because we probably had &mdash; and still have &mdash; devices which use other connectors. While my tire pump uses USB-C, my bike light charges using some flavour of mini-USB port. I do not know which. I have one cable that works and I dare not lose it.<\/p>\n<p>Every newer standard is going to face an increasingly steep hill. USB-C now has a supranational government body mandating its use for wired charging in many devices which, for all its benefits, is also a hurdle if and when someone wants to build some device in which it would be difficult to accommodate a USB-C port. That I am struggling to think of a concrete example is perhaps an indicator of the specificity of such a product and, also, that I am not in the position of dreaming up such products.<\/p>\n<p>But even without that regulatory oversight, any new standard will have to supplant a growing array of USB-C devices. We may not get another attempt at this kind of universality for a long time yet. It is a good thing USB-C is quite an elegant connector, and such a seemingly flexible set of standards.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Glenn Fleishman: USB-C was supposed to be the last cable you would ever need. It hasn&rsquo;t worked out that way. [&#8230;] The problem is that USB-C has become a connector for distinctly different purposes and glancing at a port or cable rarely tells you enough to know what will happen when you plug in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"2021-12-20T20:10:28Z","apple_news_api_id":"91a9a9e1-61f3-4be2-ac13-10f39ffb4a04","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-11-05T19:12:39Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Akamp4WHzS-KsExDzn_tKBA","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[90,31,30,201,175,1154],"class_list":["post-34493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","tag-cable","tag-ios","tag-mac","tag-thunderbolt","tag-usb","tag-usb-c"],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34493"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45672,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34493\/revisions\/45672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}