I don't think the Type-C port is making things easier

[Ma2k5]

Which turned out very well for Thunderbolt.

Well I didn't say it will turn out well or not (for me the headphone jack one was more odd than the USB-C), but rather Apple's motive in that it isn't for convenience. I guess we will have to wait and see.

 

[deeddawg]

I stand corrected. But ideally I'd want something a little bit more OEM?

Fair enough. In my experience the Cable Matters brand has always been solid whatever I've bought. https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-USB-C-Supporting-Black/dp/B073H9RG9T

Monoprice, my usual go-to, doesn't have a specific usbc to hdmi cable, but they do have the adapter you can use with an existing cable. Just not as elegant IMHO. https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=13235
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I think the real challenge we are experiencing is an inadequate labeling of what cords are capable of what. This falls on the group that manages certifications for USB-C devices and cables. There needs to be a clear naming system so the user can clearly understand what cables and devices can do what.

Part of the trouble is embedded in your text above. USB Type C technically is a connector type, like USB Type A and USB Type B (and B-mini and B-micro). The spec for the electrical signals is USB1, or USB2, or USB3 -- the latter has of course evolved from USB 3.0 (5Gbps) now to USB 3.1 gen 2 (10 Gbps) -- sometimes also stated as USB3.2. Just to add to the confusion, USB3.0 is now sometimes referred to as USB3.1

So the specs are there -- something is either USB2 capable, USB3.0 (3.1) capable, or USB 3.2 (3.1 gen 2) capable. If you see a Type B mini or micro connector, it'll be USB2 as I don't believe those support USB3/3.2 as far as I know.

Here's an article which helps clarify: https://www.cui.com/blog/usb-type-c-and-3-1-gen-2-clarified

Of course things are a hair more complicated now that Thunderbolt3 uses the Type C connector.

Yes, I agree that more consumer education would help, though this will get a bit simpler as time goes on and any USB3.0 cables fall out of common use as happened with USB1/1.1 cables.

I believe the group which manages certs for USB does list the certified cables, and the packaging *should* indicate if it's gen 1 or gen 2. http://www.usb.org/kcompliance/view

One cable to rule them all is a great idea, but in the wrong hands it can do great harm. Lol

Yep

 

[theluggage]

And of course there is also the distinction between USB3.0 USB3.1 GEN1 and USB3.1GEN2

Rejoice! Coming real soon now you've got USB 3.2[1] and HDMI alt mode[2] to contend with. Also, the latest Thunderbolt 3 controllers (I think they're in 2018 Macs) could have been called "Thunderbolt 3.1" because they've added DisplayPort 1.4 support[3] + the ability for TB3 peripherals to offer dual TB3/USB-C interfaces on a single connector[4].

Whimper. USB-C only really makes sense on mobile devices where there's only room for one port so it has to be multifunction (and dongles are unavoidable). On anything with space for multiple ports it just complicates things - especially if you want (say) a decent number of regular USB ports: now, either you have identical-looking ports with different levels of functionality, or the number of full-function ports is capped by how many PCIe or DisplayPort lanes your computer has...

Theoretically type-c will be one port for everything,

That's the problem - one port for everything rather than one protocol/electrical standard for everything - hence the confusing array of cables and adapters.

[1] Not to be confused with 3.1g2 (some chance!) 3.2 Allows two USB 3.1 lanes to "double up" to give twice the data rate - a bit like Thunderbolt 2 - currently, USB-C only uses one pair of wires for USB 3.1 signals and is no faster (at USB) than a USB 3 A connection (no, 3.1g2 doesn't need USB-C, several PCs offer it on an A-socket).

[2] Current USB-C to HDMI connectors actually use DisplayPort alt mode and contain a DP-to-HDMI converter.

[3] The USB-C spec has always supported DP1.4 alt mode, but Thunderbolt, along with any computer that used the TB controller to drive its USB-C ports, was stuck on 1.2 until early this year.

[4] So far, peripherals with a genuine dual interface have always needed separate (but identical-looking) USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 sockets. Of course, lots of USB-only peripherals say they're compatible with TB3, because TB3 ports on computers can "output" USB, so that's not going to be confusing at all...
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Yes, I agree that more consumer education would help, though this will get a bit simpler as time goes on and any USB3.0 cables fall out of common use

"Unfortunately", I've bought brand new stuff in the past year that has USB A, B or Micro-B connections. Often USB 2 because it is fast enough for some applications.

USB A/B/micro connectors have become so ubiquitous that they're going to hang around longer than VGA.

 

[Queen6]

Don't care I buy notebooks with ports that support my workflow's, USB C only remains to be less than optimal in the real world...

Q-6

 

[Vonjover]

i love usb-c but i wish apple left at least a few legacy A ports and the sd card slot. Would have helped ease the transition.

 

[1096bimu]

Rejoice! Coming real soon now you've got USB 3.2[1] and HDMI alt mode[2] to contend with. Also, the latest Thunderbolt 3 controllers (I think they're in 2018 Macs) could have been called "Thunderbolt 3.1" because they've added DisplayPort 1.4 support[3] + the ability for TB3 peripherals to offer dual TB3/USB-C interfaces on a single connector[4].

Wait what? HDMI Alt-Mode? So this is brand new and still unsupported by the 2018 MacBooks right?
I've been looking for cables and wondered why all the USB-C to HDMI cables have chips hidden in them, then I figured out that they all do the DP>HDMI thing.
However, I found that even the USB-C to DP adaptors have chips in them, so if you're gonna need a chip anyway what's the point?

I don't buy the "I don't know what this cable does" thing though. If it's attached to a hard drive I'm going to be pretty sure it won't be displaying video. If it's attached to monitor it's probably going to be doing video -- and might provide power if it's not a legacy monitor.

Well because it is possible to connect a hard drive with a USB2.0 only cable, and you won't know you have done so except the transfer speed will be extremely slow.
You can also connect to a type-C monitor with a seemingly normal type-C cable and discover that your laptop looses charge over time because the cable can't carry enough current to top it up.
Not only are USB3.0 ports blue, you could see the additional pins inside so there is never any confusion. Maybe do something like that, white/black for USB2, blue for 3.0 and I dunno, green for TB3

 

[theluggage]

Wait what? HDMI Alt-Mode? So this is brand new and still unsupported by the 2018 MacBooks right?

As far as I know - it was announced over a year ago but I haven't heard of anything actually using it.

However, I found that even the USB-C to DP adaptors have chips in them, so if you're gonna need a chip anyway what's the point?

According to this document (p20) it is needed for USB PD (Power delivery) and DisplayPort hot plug detection (???) and yeah, that's where I start to lose patience with USB-C (c.f. Thunderbolt 1/2 - legacy MiniDisplayPort just plugs straight in and all the old MiniDP-to-whatever adapters still worked).

 

[jerryk]

Yes the cables won't melt, I guess that's a plus. It's just that if you have a 2A cable and you don't know it, it can't even maintain the charge level on a 13" MBP at full power. And it's not like you can open a window to see the capabilities of the cable currently plugged in. You will have no idea why it's not charging properly.

So far I have tried mixing and matching cables and chargers from all sort of sources including the original 87 Watt charger for my 2018 15, 60 Watt, 45 watt with 30 Watt PD from Anker and several others. I used cables as varied the original apple cable, to cheap USB-C cables (2 - $8.00) from Amazon, I use with my phone (S8). They only difference is the lower powered chargers (30w) are slow to charge the unit and the battery will still drain while training machine learning that utilize near 100% of all 6 cores. Fans are running full blast for over an hour. The only difference I can see with factory charger is the battery continues to slowly to climb to 100% even with the very high load.

So I don't understand why you are worried about cables. So far every cable I have tried has worked properly as far as PD delivery is concerned. The gating factor seems to be the output of the charger, not the cable. And we dealt with this slow charring issues since high powered USB chargers for iPads and larger devices appeared.
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The problem here is: my USB-C port supports HDMI. Yay!!

Then, the $1 HDMI cable I used with my PS4 is suddenly unusable. And the cable in my home theater is, too. And neither those, nor my TV will ever use USB-C.

So I have to carry my own cable around, and if I ever forget it I’m SOL.

HDMI has had that problem even with HDMI on both ends. It is an HDMI cable spec support issues, not unique to USB-C. HDMI cables that worked fine 4 years ago do not support 4K devices these day. Look for HDMI 2.1 support.