USB-C Failing To Impress Notebook PC Vendors

Megalith

Megalith

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If you’re in the market for a new notebook with USB-C ports, you may have to look harder. Most vendors aren’t in a rush to adopt the new design, which is easier to connect and delivers more power. The primary reason, of course, is that vendors would have to spend more money to implement it.

…USB Type-C interface has two issues that have been stopping it to become a mainstream technology in the notebook market. First is that the interface features electric current that is larger than one of the previous-generation interfaces, and could lead to interference and heat dissipation problems when adopting too many at once. Second is that the USB Type-C features a high-speed transmission, but in order to achieve its maximum speed, it requires an amplifier chip, a receiver chip and a special-spec transmission wire, which significantly raise product costs.
 
Is this a problem with PC manufacturers or the committee that standardized the USB C spec?

Regardless, I suppose, these things really have to be done in order to progress technology. If you want a port to have more power then you need the components to do so.
 
Simple. Start with high end laptops and tablets where cost isn't as much of a concern, and trickle it down as production costs of the components decrease due to volume.
 
It's another one of those technologies that looks great on paper and in theory but in real-world applications - at least for the present time, say the next 2-3 years - it's not actually a necessity. I mean if we had no USB connectivity at all and this was the very first USB port/connector standard that ever came into existence, fantastic and I'm all for it. But the sheer breadth of how far USB has come just makes this nothing special and yet another standard we don't need and yet another connector we don't need and yet another cable we don't need, at least not just yet. :)
 
Isn't A/B/C just the shape of the plug/receptacle? One can easily transform plug A to B easily with adapter.
- features electric current that is larger
-requires an amplifier chip, a receiver chip
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?
 
Tiberian said:
It's another one of those technologies that looks great on paper and in theory but in real-world applications - at least for the present time, say the next 2-3 years - it's not actually a necessity. I mean if we had no USB connectivity at all and this was the very first USB port/connector standard that ever came into existence, fantastic and I'm all for it. But the sheer breadth of how far USB has come just makes this nothing special and yet another standard we don't need and yet another connector we don't need and yet another cable we don't need, at least not just yet. :)
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That's why you put it on the high end first and then trickle down to low end. Heck, the cheap FM2+ board I got from Microcenter with an AMD APU half a year ago has a USB-C port.

Skylinestar said:
Isn't A/B/C just the shape of the plug/receptacle? One can easily transform plug A to B easily with adapter.

?
Click to expand...

Nope. USB Type-C introduces several new technologies, the least of which is making it reversible. An adapter can be made, but the device using USB Type-C has to be capable of supporting everything USB Type-C has to offer, and not just support USB 3.0 standards. It has to support USB 3.1 (significant changes to the USB spec, twice as fast as USB 3.0), Displayport, HDMI, and higher power delivery, with the maximum being 5 amps at 20 volts (100 watts).

There have been reports of improperly made USB-A to USB-C adapters frying USB ports when charging USB-C phones. This is due to USB-C being far more complex than USB-A.
 
Tsumi said:
It has to support USB 3.1 (significant changes to the USB spec, twice as fast as USB 3.0), Displayport, HDMI, and higher power delivery, with the maximum being 5 amps at 20 volts (100 watts).
Click to expand...
Nexus 6P is not a USB3.1 device, despite having a type C port.

Tsumi said:
There have been reports of improperly made USB-A to USB-C adapters frying USB ports when charging USB-C phones. This is due to USB-C being far more complex than USB-A.
Click to expand...
Base on my readings, that's due to the lack of resistor that should intelligently limit the charging current (which depends on the capability of the power source). Let's say I plug a C-type device to my PC's USB3.1 A port via that "improperly made" A-C type cable (with big enough AWG for the current draw). Will it still fry the device? I doubt so.
 
USB-C is great and fixes alot of the issues with USB.

Also the missing resistor isn't a current limiting resistor, it is a mode setting resistor on the CC pin.
It is an issue where the USB device is connected to a USB device and the USB can output 20V and source power - damage.
 
Skylinestar said:
Nexus 6P is not a USB3.1 device, despite having a type C port.


Base on my readings, that's due to the lack of resistor that should intelligently limit the charging current (which depends on the capability of the power source). Let's say I plug a C-type device to my PC's USB3.1 A port via that "improperly made" A-C type cable (with big enough AWG for the current draw). Will it still fry the device? I doubt so.
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Okay, USB 3.1 might not be a mandatory part of USB-C, but the other parts still hold.

And as said, the resistor is not a current limiting resistor. The resistor is what tells the device what voltages the port is capable of, and it is the high voltage that fries the port, not the high current.
 
Tsumi said:
Okay, USB 3.1 might not be a mandatory part of USB-C, but the other parts still hold.

And as said, the resistor is not a current limiting resistor. The resistor is what tells the device what voltages the port is capable of, and it is the high voltage that fries the port, not the high current.
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Heh...just about all USB-C portable devices I know of aren't even USB3.0 and forget 3.1. They're all USB2.0 electronically AFAIK.
 
Mut1ny said:
Is this a problem with PC manufacturers or the committee that standardized the USB C spec?
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Intel hasn't put a native USB-C controller on their chipsets yet. It's coming in Kaby Lake. The only way to get USB-C right now is to use a 3rd party controller. Adds cost and takes up PCB space.
 
Skripka said:
Heh...just about all USB-C portable devices I know of aren't even USB3.0 and forget 3.1. They're all USB2.0 electronically AFAIK.
Click to expand...

My HTC 10 is most definitely USB 3.1. The OnePlus 3 is also USB 3.1, as are several other phones.
 
i have usb-c thunderbolt 3 combo port on my laptop, and it's nothing but problems.

buggy piece of shit, with buggy 3rd party accessories, in addition to lack of accessories
 
Tsumi said:
Simple. Start with high end laptops and tablets where cost isn't as much of a concern, and trickle it down as production costs of the components decrease due to volume.
Click to expand...

Yup. Same thing happened with USB 2 ports, and then later USB 3 ports. New ports have to justify their higher expense with actual need from your average user.
 
They just need to start creating usb type c to android phones instead of micro usb and it will take off.
 
My USB-C TIG welder is one of the handiest accessories I have ever bought. I get 6 hours of welding using an Asus Transformer tablet.
 
tybert7 said:
They just need to start creating usb type c to android phones instead of micro usb and it will take off.
Click to expand...

Maybe more people will be aware of it, and therefore they'll put one port on the laptop for it, similar to how usb 3.0 was for a couple of years but if it's considerably more than 2.0 or 3.0 to implement expect the low end to drag it's feet. There's no profit in being first.
 
I bought a new notebook last December and it has a USB-C/Thunderbolt port. I think costs will leave them as a higher-end feature until they can integrate all the circuitry into the chip set. This article is a little deceiving because when they say:

"Currently, Apple has decided to adopt the USB Type-C interface for its MacBook Air, while Asustek Computer and Hewlett-Packard (HP) are upgrading one of their notebooks' regular USB port to the Type-C. Lenovo, Acer and Dell are still evaluating the option."

Because they're only talking about low-end laptops. All of these companies already sell notebooks with USB-C, but they're mid or high end models.
 
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