I think it’s interesting how a lot of knowledgeable people will chime in on here on certain feature compromises and limitations with USB-C and it always sounds reasonable in isolation. But you only have to take a step back and look at the specification in its totality to see that it’s a shit show. It’s like this thing was designed by a bunch of subcommittees and no one had a clear understanding of or oversight over the big picture.

I am ok with various devices having various capabilities. Not too surprising given they are made from various bits.

But I want one damn cable to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. And a way to know what cable that is.

Well, that exists, it's called Thunderbolt 3 (or 4, since PC makers decided to try to get away with a shitty half-version of TB3).

And the cable exists too, but you have to pay through the nose for it, and people expect all cables to be $5 at Monoprice.

Turns out that 40Gbps and supporting any and all monitors at the same time and 100W of power isn't an easy spec.

Everyone mocked Apple for going with Thunderbolt so early, but it turns out they had it exactly right, just like they did with FireWire, another standard that was super-fast for its time and also included robust power delivery.

Sure, that'll be $129 for a 1.8m cable. Will you be buying one to power your wireless charger? https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MN713AM/A/thunderbolt-4-p...

That's a bit dramatic. It's a longer active cable. You can get a certified passive Thunderbolt 4 cable for 25 Euro including VAT:

http://shop.caldigit.com/eu/Adapters%20And%20Cables/Cables?p...

Short answer to the grandparent: buy a certified Thunderbolt 4 cable. They have clear markings (a Thunderbolt logo, along with the digit 4). They are backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 4, Thunderbolt 3, USB 4, USB 3.2/3.1/3.0, USB-C Gen 1/2, USB 2.0 and can charge 100W.

The customer assuredly cannot do that for a standard wall wallet.

The original poster said they wanted to plug in an iPad and phone for charging. The right comparison would be a customer buying a power strip, plugging in two space heaters at the same time, and wondering why the circuit breaker triggers.

The closer comparison would be a customer wanting a power strip that they can plug multiple phone chargers in to, I think.

A fast-charging phone is to a standard USB port as a space heater is to a standard wall socket.