In watching the evolution of USB-C over the last few years, it seems like it's extremely hard to implement correctly with the huge number of modes, alternate modes, and power delivery in the spec.<p>When you connect two USB-C devices today, you have almost no idea what is actually going to happen, which device is the master, and which way power will flow.<p>While having one connector and cable type for everything seems like it would be a good idea, in practice it's turning out to be a giant mess. Maybe it'll clear up in a few years, but given the race to the bottom in price and quality in the accessory market, this seems doubtful.
Why does USB-C have such terrible failure modes? I'm sure that the people behind it are bright engineers, so why do I have a fear unlike anything I've ever felt when buying a USB-C cable or charger or device?<p>Is this just a "tragedy of the commons" where every manufacturer expects the others to follow the spec so that they can skimp, or is there some kind of fundamental flaw in the USB-C spec that is making it so seemingly dangerous and difficult to use correctly?
While this is more of an interesting fact than anything: The Nintendo Switch website [1] does not advertise that the Switch has a USB-C port. It has HDMI and USB 2.0 on the dock... but no USB-C anywhere.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.nintendo.com/switch/features/tech-specs/" rel="nofollow">https://www.nintendo.com/switch/features/tech-specs/</a>
I love the idea of USB-C - Being able to have one cable which can do everything is great.<p>But I've become very leery about actually trusting it in practice - There are so many examples of bad cables, or devices which don't <i>quite</i> follow the specification, causing things to break badly.<p>If you end up having to follow a defacto "Only use 1st party tools" rule for safety reasons, I'd almost rather manufacturers went back to proprietary connectors. Those aren't inter-operable, but at least they don't pretend to be and risk me breaking everything.
<i>However, because it was USB-C compliant (followed the darn spec) and robustly engineered, it will work with the Switch even though it came out nearly two years before the Switch was released. (Hooray!) Innergie had the foresight to add 15v as an "optional and extra" voltage level and now it reaps the rewards. (It also has $1mil in connected device insurance, so I can recommend it.)</i><p>I think maybe I just found a new preferred provider of cables and chargers.
In case others are looking for something similar, I've had great success using Anker's 20100mAh USB-C portable battery to charge my Switch on the go. It's the only USB-C battery I've tried that actually works with the Nintendo Switch.<p>Link:
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Anker-PowerCore-Ultra-High-Capacity-Portable/dp/B014ZO46LK/" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/Anker-PowerCore-Ultra-High-Capacity-P...</a><p>It also gets me a full recharge of my 15" USB-C MBP (though you can't use the MBP and charge at the same time, it takes a while).
Well this is exactly what I was wondering last week after noticing the USB-C port on the switch dock is labelled "Power Adapter". I thought it was a little off that there is no mention of USB-C, either not to confuse the users or perhaps because they didn't have much confidence in their hardware compliance.
In my humble opinion, the greatest sin of the USB C standard is the lack of introspection. Given the huge amount of possibilities, it should be possible to question a USB C socket with a cheap device what Alt modes it is capable of, what device roles it is capable of, what USB PD it supports etc.
I can't make heads or tails of the technical details of this, but I think it's fair to start with the prior that Nintendo doesn't care too much about non-proprietary formats/interoperability/etc. I developed this impression when the Gamecube came out -- weird minidisks when Sony had already switched over to CDs and then DVDs, no ability to play external media, an online community that seemed pretty half-baked.<p>I haven't played videogames regularly for a decade though so perhaps things have changed. I now use a PS4 controller to play some games on my computer, and it's really nice, integrates naturally.
I have a feeling I'll be buying one of those fancy USB-C amperage/voltage meters. I hit issues with the charging spec on a GPD Pocket (tiny laptop). Its maximum supported charging voltage is 12V, which is now optional in the USB-PD 2.0 standard. So most chargers I see now are 5V/9V/15V<p>Macbook charger for instance is missing the 12V, so it charges slow off that charger since it ignores the 15V rail. Has to fall back to 5V or 9V in theory...
Presumably this investigation was prompted by the Nyko dock catastrophe.<p>I'm a software guy; what do these revelations imply about which other accessories may or may not be unsafe to use, whether they work or not? In particular, third-party charging cables. My girlfriend uses her MacBook charger to charge her Switch sometimes, and now I'm worried it could brick it one day.
the switch is advertised to only work with official nintendo cables and accessories. Anything else and you're just risking damage to your console/tablet/thingy.<p>I don't think they have ever claimed that their USB-C connectors were compliant with the spec.
I'm not sure I buy the vendor lock-in thing, if that was the core motivation why not at least bother to use a custom USB-C connector? This way you wouldn't have to deal with the reports of users plugging other USB-C peripherals and getting crashes.<p>Seems more likely what whoever implemented that part of the Switch did a poor job. Was it even done in-house or did they contract a 3rd party to hack it?
My son just bought himself a Switch, and TBH this isn't surprising at all. What <i>is</i> surprising is that Nintendo didn't modify the port so that a USB-C cable wouldn't fit. I don't think it's advertised as being a USB-C port, though.<p>The specs page[0] says there are three USB 2.0 ports and a power port (which, by looking at it, uses the same connector as USB-C).<p>[0]<a href="https://www.nintendo.com/switch/features/tech-specs/" rel="nofollow">https://www.nintendo.com/switch/features/tech-specs/</a>
Why not require some kind of USB-C compatibility details on all USB-C related products? So you know if you use the device/cable what will actually work/not work?
On a related note, what are some reputable brands for USB-C adapters that actually do have proper implementation and quality assurance? Anker? UPTab? Belkin?
I thought type-c was just the shape, while usb 3.1 and 3.1 gen 2, or thunderbolt 3 being the common specs that usually carry this shape.<p>Or is it more complicated than this?
USB-C peripheral makers desperately need to agree on a color/marking scheme for the devices and specifically the cables. Right now it's chaos. Red, blue, green, black, ABCD, 1234, square, circle, triangle, cross... Whatever. Just make it so users can tell what's going on.
I was under the impression that some of the issues with third-party adapters were caused by insufficient tolerances, causing damage to the type-C connector. In addition to the non-compliance.
Maybe it's USB-C because of future usage requirements, that they envisioned they might need USB-C to interface with attachments (VR headset? New GB/DS generation?).
I’m curious, how many of the issues enumerated could be fixed by a firmware upgrade? Personally, I wouldn’t be too surprised if the dock isn’t upgradeable at all.
How is this at all surprising? Controlling what third parties are allowed to make accessories and games has been part of Nintendo's business model since the 80s. They truly believe (and you can argue this if you want) that the Nintendo Seal of Quality is part of their success.
Perhaps if Nintendo had boarded the standardized-connectors train at the terminal, rather than just hopping on at the last station, they would have been more familiar by now with the need to read and follow all the rules of the standard.