Salman’s blog:
USB-C was supposed to be the answer to the chaos that is charge and data cable compatibility. And to an extent it was. It unified ports and reduced the amount of cables and chargers I need to travel with. The cables themselves, however, turned out to be a mess. They come in many varieties with obtuse names, confusing markers, and unclear compatibility rules. Yet they all look exactly the same.
I couldn’t agree more.
What are the 8 different USB-C to USB-C cable assemblies? From Benson Leung’s post, we have:
- USB 2.0 rated at 3A
- USB 2.0 rated at 5A
- USB 3.2 Gen 1 rated at 3A
- USB 3.2 Gen 1 rated at 5A
- USB 3.2 Gen 2 rated at 3A
- USB 3.2 Gen 2 rated at 5A
- USB4 Gen 3 rated at 3A
- USB4 Gen 3 rated at 5A
Salman took Benson Leung’s post and used some nail polish to create easily identifiable cables. To see the result, follow the headline link, scroll to the bottom for a picture. One stripe for a 3A cable, two stripes for 5A.
This is a brilliant idea. I hope it gets some traction. As is, USB-C cables are a bit of a guessing game.