It’s actually great that USB-C cables are everywhere. Smartphones, laptops, tablets, external storage drives, game console controllers, power banks and even in your car. The same cable works on essentially all the technology you own. fantastic. But before we get ecstatic over it all doing so well, remember – not all USB-C cables are the same. And this is where the dream of having a single cable doesn’t truly come true. It reminds me of HDMI cables and the cluttered ecosystem they’ve created over the years. And also how it is human nature to repeat history.
Apple Thunderbolt 4 Cable. (Official image.)
We have seen this before also. Focus your mind back on HDMI. When it arrived in the early 2000s, it was a real breakthrough – a single cable for audio and video, replacing the tangle of component cables behind your television. The idea was clean, elegant. Then the versions started increasing. HDMI 1.0. Then 1.3. Then 1.4, which brought 3D and audio return channels. Then 2.0, because 4K was coming. Then 2.0a and 2.0b, because HDR wasn’t serialized the first time. Then there’s 2.1, which adds 8K and higher refresh rates for gaming, and then sub-versions within 2.1 – 2.1a, 2.1b – each with slightly different capabilities that cable packaging won’t always bother to mention.
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At some point, purchasing HDMI cables becomes a matter of concern. Whether it was HDMI 1.4 or 2.1, the cable looked the same. The manufacturers printed “High Speed” on the box without anyone’s understanding of what that phrase actually meant. You’ll get home, plug it in, and find that your shiny new television isn’t working the way it’s supposed to, because the cable was a version behind. HDMI promised simplicity. This created a new kind of complexity.
USB-C is doing something remarkably similar. Because the fine print, as is always the case with technology, is where the inconvenient truth lives. Not all USB-C cables are the same. not even close. Here’s a snapshot of what we’re seeing. It has USB 2.0 Type-C that’s rated at up to 480Mbps speeds and can charge smartphones as well as tablets, and works well enough for transferring small file bundles – for example, it’ll take the trouble to charge your laptop. Next in line is the USB 3.0 Type-C cable, rated at 5Gbps, which works well for powering external hard drives and SSDs as well as laptops. There is a USB 3.1 Type-C cable that is rated at 10Gbps, which is for high-speed 4K video and audio transfers, and so should be used for an external monitor for example – a 5Gbps cable won’t do.
It is still not complete. Next in the hierarchy (and flagship for now) is the USB 3.2 Type-C cable, which, in the Gen2 iteration, handles up to 20Gbps transfer bandwidth, and this is the cable you should use for any workflow involving video editing, 3D rendering, or any data intensive transfer. The USB-C cable that comes with your budget smartphone may or may not charge your laptop. Some cables support USB 3.2 speeds, while others are stuck at USB 2.0. Some have a video signal, but most do not. Some can handle up to 140-watts of power delivery, others peak at around 60-watts.
Same connector. Vastly different abilities.
There is also a cable certification problem. The USB Implementers Forum introduced the certification program in several iterations between 2019 and 2024, focusing on the power rating logo and power range aspects. There are certified cables and many, many uncertified cables. Walk into any electronics shop or scroll through any e-commerce platform, and the ratio of certified to uncertified is not at all reassuring.
It is a uniquely human story, more a story of habits and attitudes than technology. The HDMI glitch was no secret, yet we didn’t learn. The trajectory matches HDMI’s trajectory so closely that you wonder if some degree of connector chaos is inevitable. The USB-C connector itself has no limitations or complications. The spec, in its full form, is truly impressive. I’m writing this on an Apple Mac Studio connected to a Studio Display via a Thunderbolt 5 cable, which is rated at 96-watt host charging, which is relevant if you want to connect it to a MacBook.
The only way out at the moment is to read the specifications carefully before purchasing a USB-C cable. It’s a maze that can’t be easily navigated, but we have no choice but to fix it.
Vishal Mathur is Technology Editor at HT. Tech Tonic is a weekly column that looks at the impact of personal technology on the way we live our lives, and vice versa. The views expressed are personal.
