Illustration: Sarah MacReading Which devices work best with USB-C?
When starting from empty, an iPhone XR will go to just 17% in 30 minutes on a 5W charger, but 50% in the same time on an 18W USB-C charger. Higher wattage chargers will fill your device’s battery up faster. But charging speeds are where most people can get the biggest improvements right now, without spending a fortune. USB-C can even work for video connections, such as for computer displays. And the new data transfer rates, which speed up the performance of accessories such as external hard drives and video gear, can in some cases be up to 20 times faster. Instead of being limited to around 12 watts of power for charging, USB-C can power devices at up to 100 W. The symmetrical connector with rounded ends lives on both ends of the wire, and there is no such thing as “right-side up”-either way works just fine.īut the real magic lies in how much more the new USB-C ports are capable of. USB Type-C, generally referred to as USB-C, is the port that replaces all of them. The other end of the connection might be USB-B (the squarish kind you plug into a printer), Mini-USB (common for plugging in digital cameras years ago), Micro-USB (found on everything from wireless headphones to smartphones to e-readers), or Apple-specific (like the current Lightning port on iPhones). The port is a rectangle, and if you’re like me, it always takes at least two tries to get the cable in right-side up. The USB port you’ve known for 20 years or so is USB-A. Illustration: Sarah MacReading What’s different about USB-C?įirst, some basics. The four most common ports for charging devices all have slightly different capabilities and charging speeds.
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