I'm using USB-C for years. I've single Chinese cable, bought many years ago, that simply refuses to work. Apart from that literally zero issues. I've used the same set of cables to connect windows laptops(full dock with double HDMI and charging), MacBook, Android phones, headphones and ton of other stuff.

Most of these was either included with something or bought for about $5/piece. Nothing bad ever happened. Really it feels like some people got scared half of the decade ago and haven't checked since.

You misunderstand my comment. I'm not afraid of bad things happening. I'm talking about the fact that different cables have different capabilities. That adds complexity where the point of USB was to reduce it, and that is compounded by the fact that you can't even tell what sort of cable you have by looking at it.

In terms of hassle, USB-C is a bit of a step backwards from the prior USB versions.

Prior USB have like >20 different cable assemblies. There's like 9 different connectors you can have on the cable: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_hardware#/media/File:USB_2... cable can have or omit SS signals. A bit rose tinted glasses, I guess. And many micro/mini connectors are just unreliable crap.

With USB-C you can just buy a superset cable, that supports everything at max speeds/max amperage and that's it.

But I can tell the difference between the cables by just looking at them, aside from "power only" cables, which I had the same objections to.

> And many micro/mini connectors are just unreliable crap.

I suppose, although the only connectors I've had fail on me have been USB-C connectors.

> With USB-C you can just buy a superset cable

Serious question: how do I identify them? What do I search for?

Thank you! I'll keep this in mind for when I can't avoid USB-C any longer. The day is coming. I already have three devices that only have USB-C.

There are only two Type-C cables assemblies. Fully featured one, and USB 2.0 one (doesn't carry superspeed and sideband signals).

Appart from that, all cables support 3 amperes. So unless you want more for some reason, USB 2.0 vs 3.x is all you need to care about. Only USB 3.0 cables will work for all use cases.

5A cables are less physically flexible, but more efficient regardless of whether the devices need 5A or not. 3A/5A distinction just affects energy transfer efficiency.

So there are only two axes of parameters to decide about, and only one affects functionality and only USB 2.0 cable option will be functionally limiting.

Similar concerns apply if you want Type-C legacy cable (with non-type-C connector on one side). But that's straying away from the type-c only world, anyway.