Re:Why 2016 is such a terrible year for the Mac
by 6nf on Saturday November 05, 2016 @06:08PM
(#12882184)
Yea but at least a 20W cable would still work if you don't have a 100W one handy. It would just take longer to charge your laptop. Is that really such a big deal? It's better than having a bunch of different ports.
Re:Why 2016 is such a terrible year for the Mac
by muninn_ on Saturday November 05, 2016 @05:33PM
(#12882014)
Again, you're just remarking on a temporary transition state. Even if the scenario you described happened, it would still be a far superior alternative to what we have now.
Re:Why 2016 is such a terrible year for the Mac
by dingaling on Saturday November 05, 2016 @06:06PM
(#12882171)
None of the examples I gave will be transitory.
A 10W-rated USB-C cable meets spec and power a hub but won't be able to charge a laptop.
A USB-C cable will work for Thunderbolt 3 so long as it is less than metre long and has 'satisfactory' loss. Again it meets spec.
You can connect an on-spec USB-C cable between a laptop and monitor and discover that the monitor doesn't support HDMI in Alternative Mode. Well, actually, you won't discover anything as it just won't work.
Even if all the cables you buy are 100W platinum-plated ypu can still walk into a meeting room to find an on-spec cable that doesn't work for your use-case.
Unfortunately to be replaced with 'crap, does anyone have a USB-C cable that can handle 90W?' or 'is this USB-C cable good enough to handle Thunderbolt? Why isn't my Thunderbolt device connecting' or 'is this USB-C port 3.0 or 3.1?'
Unless we standardise on over-engineered USB-C cables that can handle all possible use-cases ( and thus able to handle 100W even just to connect a mouse ) or introduce some sort of labelling system ( which doesn't move us on from the current cable-zoo ), then there's going to continue to be hair-pulling at the start of Powerpoint presentations in unfamiliar rooms.