Power Supply with USB-C Charging?

[DaCoOlNeSs]

Hey guys, I am looking to upgrade to a new laptop that can be charged over USB-C, but it would be nice to just leave the charger at work and charge at home via a port that can deliver the 80 watts needed to charge quickly.

AFAIK a motherboard wouldn't be able to deliver that kind of power. I'm wondering if there is a new PSU coming soon or already out with a port capable of that?

 

[Tsumi]

The PSU would have nothing to do with it. USB-C is not simple power or data transfer. It has to communicate between the devices to determine what the supplier and receiver are capable of (5 volts, 12 volts, 0.5 amps, 2 amps, etc). A PSU wouldn't be able to do this without a logic board to connect to, and that market is basically nonexistent. For that same reason, you also won't be seeing that capability on a motherboard anytime soon.

 

[DaCoOlNeSs]

There is definitely more to it than raw power output but I wouldn't think it's something that is that hard to do. There are power supplies that have USB hookups to monitor and change how some things work inside of them, I don't see it as a super stretch to add a bit extra so that you could have a USB-C charging port similar to a new MacBook charger since it would already have all the 120/240volt -> 5/12 volt circuitry.

 

[Tsumi]

Again, not that simple in addition to a limited market. It would add cost to what is already a highly competitive market.

For one, if a USB-C charger is implemented in the PSU, it would need the circuitry to support the range of USB-C charging so that it doesn't fry a cellphone for example. The maximum power delivery of USB-C is 100 watts, achieved by 20 volts at 5 amps, with 5 amps being the maximum USB-C cables are rated to support. That means the circuitry also has to be capable of stepping input voltage (presumably 12v) from 5 volts for basic USB devices up to 20 volts for laptops, and voltages in between. Smartphones that quick-charge on USB-C use 12 volts. A 29 watt macbook charger uses 14.5 volts. The 87 watt charger uses 20 volts.

As you can see, it is neither a simple nor a cheap implementation, and with the limited market of high power USB-C devices, there is basically no incentive to make it happen. A USB port for monitoring the PSU already commands at least a $20 premium to comparable PSUs, I imagine a hypothetical USB-C implementation will be at least $50.