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ChefArtorias t1_itmi4gd wrote

Reply to comment by prehistoric_knight in USB-C iPhone will be mandatory in Europe as EU law passes final stage by prehistoric_knight

You'll still need different cords, unfortunately. My Switch needs it's own cord which only works for the Switch. Phone says it should only take Samsung chargers but can use the one from my Steam Deck, but that one won't charge my headphones. It's annoying. They're all USB-C but are anything but interchangable.

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HerbHurtHoover t1_itmnf8e wrote

.... uh..... what?

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ChefArtorias t1_itmolr6 wrote

All of my devices that use USB C charging need different chargers even though they have the same port. It's infuriating.

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HerbHurtHoover t1_itmqmjv wrote

Uh.... sound like you have one shitty cable that doesn't meet power requirements for some of your devices. I have never ever had to use different usb c cable for different devices.

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ChefArtorias t1_itmwo88 wrote

Sometimes I know that is the case, like I wouldn't expect a cheap charger to power the switch/deck very quickly, especially not while playing. The powerful chargers not working on less powerful devices is what confuses me. Maybe there's a system in place to prevent it like more wattage from the charger would be dangerous to the small device. Steam charger is brand new and won't charge my headphones which baffles me but I am pretty ignorant about the details of how electricity works.

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VIKTORVAV99 t1_itmxpl5 wrote

It has nothing to do with how electricity works and everything to do with the negotiation between the charger, cord and device. They all contain microchips that contains the supported wattage and amperage and they will select the highest supported wattage and amperage by all parts of the chain.

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ChefArtorias t1_itn6524 wrote

While I get what you're saying both of those are different aspects of electricity which the microchips are there to regulate. I do know some about electric systems from doing construction but not really details of electronics.

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happyscrappy t1_itqyatl wrote

A charger capable of 5A and 20V is the "most powerful" charger. But some devices don't work at 20V.

A charger must be able to supply 5V, and may be able to supply 9V, 15V or 20V. It might supply all 4, or some subset. All devices must support 5V and may support other voltages. So if someone makes a charger that does 5V and 20V and then you plug in a device that wants either 5V or 9V then they will agree on 5V. Then that means you can't charge faster than 15W.

According to the spec it should still charge, just charge slowly. But some companies interpret the spec rather liberally or just don't comply. And then it may not charge at all.

Honestly, Valve seems to do a rather poor job with USB C (USB-PD) really support. So their charger is probably poor at it. A good quality USB C charger may support both your headphones and Steam deck. In case you care, like if you wanted to take only one charger on a trip. Better test it first before you leave on the trip of course!

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happyscrappy t1_itqwzvi wrote

The other poster is correct.

With USB C (technically USB-PD) a charger can support anywhere from 15W to 100W (later specs got to 240W, I will ignore these as likely neither you nor he have used any of the later spec chargers or cables).

Additionally a cable can support up to 3A or up to 5A. Given how the spec works, a 3A cable is typically only good for 60W, while a 50A one can go to 100W. Although it is a bit more complicated than that.

A charger must support 5V output. It can support 9V output, 15V output or 20V output additionally but is not required to.

So you can have a cable (limited to 3A) or a charger (limited to something less than 20V, often just 5V) which does not charge some devices well. It can even not charge them at all. And that's before we get to devices that are out of spec. Nintendo's Switch is notoriously out of spec. And Sony's Dualsense controller is also out of spec.

In theory if you have a charger which does all 5 voltages (5,9,15,20) and a cable that does up to 5 amps then it should charge any device as fast as it can be charged. This has been my experience with everything except the Nintendo Switch. And it could be the case with the Sony Dualsense too, although it hasn't been a problem for me.

A 3A cable is not a "shitty" cable, it's just a cable meant for less demanding devices. I typically prefer them because they are cheaper and coil easier (especially good for traveling). I even use them on some of the more demanding devices at times because if you are charging overnight then charging a bit slower isn't an issue, I'm asleep anyway.

Same with chargers, while I have 100W chargers capable of all 4 voltages and 5A they are larger and more expensive so I have a lot more of the less capable chargers because they are smaller and cheaper. The issue of trying to use more demanding devices on less capable chargers is going to be more and more commonplace on USB-C as devices no longer come with chargers and people just use whatever they have.

And since you're the anti-Lightning guy, note that Lightning doesn't seem to go past 3A regardless even a "cheap C cable" is as capable as a Lightning cable in terms of charge speed. And the 5A cables are more capable than any Lightning cable.

Lightning still has the voltage selection issues, if you have a 5V only charger then you're not going to go past 15W no matter what. Often you have a charger that doesn't go past 9V, but few would notice the charge speed difference between 27W and 30W. Both of these issues are the same on USB-C.

If you don't have USB-C devices over 30W (i.e. phones) then you probably wouldn't see these issues with USB-C (or Lightning for that matter).

People will have to get used to these issues and surely will. It's a pretty good spec it should work well for most people most of the time. And from a power delivery perspective it should never work worse than Lightning would in the same situation.

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HerbHurtHoover t1_itrld7r wrote

This quite the weird take.

Tell me, do you think the light ing cable wouldn't have this problem if it was actually a standard and not a patent locking tool?

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happyscrappy t1_itrom8u wrote

Which particular problem?

Do you mean the voltage issue? No, Lightning has that problem for the same reason USB-C does. Because both use USB-PD and USB-PD was specified in the way it was to keep the costs of chargers down. If a phone maker had to include a 100W 4-voltage agile power supply with their phone it would lead to a lot more cost and waste of materials.

I don't get how this is a "take". I explained how USB-PD (USB-C) produces these problems. And then I explained that Lightning never performs better than USB-C does. USB-C, even with its limitations, is better than Lightning overall and never worse in any case.

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HerbHurtHoover t1_itrvgmg wrote

Damn, man. You have no idea what you are saying, do you?

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happyscrappy t1_its0tlr wrote

Is this your normal thing? To pretend others who clearly know this stuff well don't know what they are doing?

If you have some questions you want answered I can help. If you would prefer to insult others to divert from something you don't understand then you can just do that by your lonesome.

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HerbHurtHoover t1_its1lec wrote

No, you just think quoting a spec sheet makes your argument valid..

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happyscrappy t1_its1pyl wrote

Which part of my argument do you think is invalid? Do you have a question you want answered?

Or are you just hurling insults to divert from what you don't understand?

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HerbHurtHoover t1_itse039 wrote

I already did that part...... fucking reddit man. You are just dragging the conversation along for no reason. Not everything has to he a constant back and forth.

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happyscrappy t1_itsobe6 wrote

It takes two people to make a back and forth. If you don't like a back and forth then don't participate. You can't go blaming someone else for dragging a conversation on when you are 50% of the continuation.

You expressed something about a problem with Lightning. And asked me a question about it. But you refused to express what this problem is.

You complained my argument is not valid just because I listed some specs. But you refuse to say which part isn't valid.

I can't decide which is more ridiculous. Complaining about my argument not being valid but refusing to indicate how, asking me a question and then refusing to specific what the question actually referred to or extending a discussion and then complaining about the discussion being extended.

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HerbHurtHoover t1_itsp52g wrote

Lmao.

I didn't say its invalid because you quoted specs. I already said why its invalid, but you have to keep pretending I didn't to keep this going.

You are just straight up lying at this point.

Buh bye

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catnipforsale t1_itnaepb wrote

My sister gave my her tablet laptop a couple years ago that used a specific c charger that was lost and I couldn't find a replacement anywhere. Turned out my switch charger was the only thing that worked on it, though it only worked half the time. I'd randomly have to unplug it and plug it back in.

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ChefArtorias t1_itnb2j0 wrote

The switch charger is special somehow. I used it to charge my phone when I got my switch because it's so long. Then one day it just won't work anymore. Still worked great on the switch.

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theblackfool t1_itmqb5j wrote

You're being downvoted, but I definitely have USB C chargers that don't charge my Switch. I dunno the difference though I'm not tech savvy enough.

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007craft t1_itmtt9f wrote

That's because it's all about watts. USB c cables have ratings. Some can do 5 watts, others can do 100. Assuming you have a high quality cable, now you need to worry about the charger. Some do 5w (older chargers) and some do 100 (ultra beefy laptops). The Nintendo switch needs 18w to run in handheld mode and 39 in a docked situation. So assuming you're playing docked, you want your charger to be at least 39watts. If you're just trying to charge the switch on its own, at least 18w. If you plug the switch into a 50 watt charger but only use a cable that can do 10w, then you're limited to 10w. And 10w is not enough to charge the switch.

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moldymoosegoose t1_itmu5di wrote

The switch doesn't follow type c specs properly. It can charge properly in handheld but in docked, you need a specific charger that's designed to work in the switch, even if you have the proper wattage. Same with their pro controllers. Certain chargers won't work and handshake properly. Nintendo is a mess.

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007craft t1_itmzxw8 wrote

That is not true. I own a switch and charge it just fine while docked using a combination of This generic USB-C Hub (you need to make sure the hub has a USBC power input like this one does), a generic USBC cable (rated properly to do high wattage of course) and This generic AC adapter. No Nintendo dock, cables or charger needed. Since the usb hub and charger are so small, its my portable dock solution (and I have a short 1 foot HDMI cable I bring in my travel case too.

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zerpa t1_itmwqhl wrote

This might be true today, but the new legislation explicitly requires compliance to USB standard, including power delivery. It not just about the plug.

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