This was totally to be expected, and this issue predates and is more pervasive than iPhones' switch to USB-C. There's so much variability in USB-C cable capability, and there's little to no way to tell one from the other, except for premium thunderbolt ones that are usually labeled. Im pretty savvy with tech, and I find it infuriating. Im certain average people who aren't savvy will be bewildered and unhappy.
Most people who haven't worked with standards do not understand how they work. Standards may incorporate a range of options and do no require all to be implemented to be compliant; which is what USB-C does. As a result, as you state, people get confused when stuff doesn't work like they think it should.
Given cables are generally not marked for what they implement the confusion is to be expected since people think USB-C is one standard design.
As for USB-C, it's a joy compared to RS-232...
Yeah it's the EU's fault that Apple failed to implement the industry standard connector.
Apple did and is fully compliant with the EU rule and USB-C connector standard. Nothing in the rule addresses data, and USB-C has a lot of ways to implement data protocols.
What good is a standard port if the cables have no standards and it’s a crapshoot from the user’s perspective?
Maybe bureaucrats should stick to just wasting other people’s money.
The rule did exactly what it said it would - create a standard charging port for electrical devices. Whether or not you agree that it should be mandated is another issue, but the EU chose to only address wired charging.
EU law should have mandated MFI-like compliance standards for USB-C to keep to the Apple standard.
The EU addressed charging, not data. Apple could still implement MFI for data and be complaint with the rule.
I would not be surprised if the 480Mbps data throughput of 3rd party USB-C cables has to do with not being compliant to USB 10Gbps standards.
More likely charging only cables are the issue because they are cheaper to make and thus lower cost.
Who would have thought in the year 2023, getting a universal plug that just works would be such an issue?
The problem is not the universal plug, it's the standard allows for a lot of implementations of the pinouts so there is no universal cable, only task specific ones.
