Finally, we have the iPhone 15/Plus and iPhone 15 Pro/Max with us. Apple’s new smartphone family comes with a long-awaited change: the USB-C connector, which replaces the Lightning connector. But Apple’s adoption of this connector once again highlights what is probably one of the biggest problems with this connector: the mess of cables.

Cables frying things. A few years ago the situation with USB-C cables was so bad that there were people who ended up frying their laptops with the cables. Benson Leung, a Google engineer, spent months analyzing and publishing reviews of USB-C cables sold on Amazon. A. Good He tried a method that cools his Chromebook Pixel on a bad day. Actually, the problem was not quality.

Which is which?

They all look the same but they’re not.. As noted on TechCrunch, Apple has released two new USB-C to USB-C cables. One of them can support 60 W charging power, the other 240 W, but at first glance it doesn’t seem easy to distinguish them – other than one being thicker than the other – especially for someone who doesn’t know it’s there. Both are different..

Different speeds, different features. USB-C cables are a world of their own because even though the connector may be the same, the interface they use can be very different. The iPhone 15/Plus has a USB-C connector with a USB 2.0 interface (480 Mbps), while the iPhone 15 Pro/Max has a USB-C connector with a USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface (10 Gbps).

The Thunderbolt cable is what allows you to get the best transfer speeds on the iPhone 15 Pro/Max. The technology logo appears there, but there’s nothing to indicate that it’s compatible with the USB 3.2 Gen 2 standard that these phones benefit from.

Three cables, only one fixes things (somewhat). Apple offers a 60W cable (USB 2), a 240W cable (which is also USB 2), and also a Thunderbolt 4 Pro cable (which is also USB 3.2 Gen 2 and therefore suitable for the iPhone 15 Pro/Max). sells. The latter is the only one with an identifying mark: the Thunderbolt logo on the plastic head covering the metal connectors.

How complicated are the features?. The organization that manages this standard, USB-IF, was not particularly accurate in the naming of its specifications, especially starting with 2008’s USB 3.0 release. The table below, taken from Wikipedia, clarifies things a little, but not at all. it is easy to distinguish between them, especially when the USB-C connector is used for both older devices with a USB 2.0 interface and much more modern devices with USB4 v2.0.

And if that wasn’t enough, it’s also used by Thunderbolt, but at least in this case the cables feature the aforementioned identifying “lightning bolt” on the connectors. Names also create confusion, and USB-IF also tried to get us to use the name SuperSpeed ​​USB 5 Gbps, SuperSpeed+ USB 10 Gbps, or SuperSpeed+ USB 20 Gbps to refer to these products.

And then there are alternative modes. We are not only talking about the transfer speeds or charging powers these cables support, but also the alternative modes they support. USB-C ports on our devices can often function as DisplayPort, Thunderbolt, MHL, or even HDMI ports, but it’s not easy to know if a cable allows this.

USB-IF, fix this please. This organization certifies cables and has been trying to solve the problem for a while, but has not been successful. His recommendation is to include a set of labels on the packaging in which the cable is wrapped when purchasing. There’s a section on their official site specifically dedicated to talking about their logo’s user manuals, but confusion is evident there as well.

The problem is that there aren’t many manufacturers that follow this advice, but when we take the cable out of its protection we often store it loosely in a drawer or leave it somewhere and the cable remains unidentified. That’s the problem: manufacturers need to define it.

Two ideas to solve the problem. There are other organizations that offer workable solutions to solve this chaos. The first is the VESA organization, which has invented a series of stickers for DisplayPort 2.0 cables.

Secondly, the Wi-Fi Alliance, which for years has complicated our lives with the names of Wi-Fi standards (802.11a, b, g, n, ac, ax), has finally allowed us to do this by adopting a simple numbering. simplify the names: Now everyone is talking about Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax 2.4 and 5 GHz) or Wi-Fi 6E (6 GHz).

USB-IF continues to mix things up a bit at the moment: after releasing the USB4 standard in 2021, it released USB4 v2.0 in 2022, not USB5 or USB4.1. Standards are improving on transfer speeds. For example, charging power support and alternative modes for video connections, but what hasn’t improved is the identification of cables we use every day.

Our devices should help us. Our mobile phones, tablets and laptops don’t help much either: They usually don’t give us a clue as to whether they’re charging at full speed, but this is fortunately changing with devices with a new generation of fast charging systems, which can alert us. Maybe the cable we are charging is not the right cable.

Mistake!

Chrome operating system For example, there is this kind of warning and my phone (Huawei P40 Pro+) also tells me this when I use the wrong charger. Still, it would be helpful for all operating system developers to provide more data on what kind of installation we’re doing.

Is it that difficult to stick a label? Manufacturers need to take this into consideration and offer a solution to this problem, but the year is 2023 and we still do not know whether that USB-C cable in our drawer will be the right cable to charge our devices at full speed. Negative. You can only figure this out through trial and error, and it shouldn’t take too much time for manufacturers to fix the problem with some sort of decal or engraving on the cable. Perhaps the European Union needs to take action on this issue as soon as possible.

Image | User3802032

in Xataka | USB-C is the worst standard in history because it is nothing but a standard