Hacker News Reader

Comment by neonscribe | Hacker News Reader

USB-C has its issues, but it is clearly better than any previous connector.

USB-C is better. I love using USB-C. But the ecosystem is so poor right now. Maybe it is the available chipsets people are using but the hubs are awful. Lack of devices using C is pretty apparent as well.

I'm not sure what devices you have now, but I've moved completely to usb-c and love it. I threw out all my other cables, and have usb-c charging on every floor of my house and car.

I have my macbook pro and Pixel 3 as my main devices. For travel I have the Sony 1000mx3 headphones, Aiwejay toothbrush, Xiaomi shaver, the Innergie 60W charger (way way smaller than the Macbook brick). And at home I have the A7iii camera and Sandisk external ssd. I even have some bonus devices like the Daydream remote is usb-c and my Logitech Brio webcam.

There's a couple of things I'm still shopping for (dashcam, presentation remote, flashlight, studio microphone, and 4-input audio interface) but those will happen over the next year I imagine.

It’s not - I had the new MBP and every day had issues with USB-C devices coming loose and losing connections. A connector that comes disconnected with the smallest movement is not that good.

Agreed. USB c is unreliable in that just a small movement is enough for it to disconnect while appearing to be plugged in.

Didja get lint in there? I'm incredibly impressed with the USB-based products I've dealt with.

I have an HP notebook and the USB C connector does seem to wiggle itself loose throughout the day.

Maybe I've just been lucky - my phone had difficulty for a brief period about a year ago, and I'd gotten worried the port was failing but pulling out the lint has the connection like new now.

That's been the problem for me. I couldn't use my Pixel 3's USB-C port for charging or data anymore, until yesterday I finally dug out a shocking amount of pocket lint. Compressed air and a vacuum didn't do it. And it's hard to find a tool that will fit in there. My toothpicks were too thick. The end of a zip tie (as suggested on some reddit thread) works well for the long section but not the ends. It's probably not advisable, but in the end I used a safety pin.

I use a small slice of rigid, clear plastic packaging that you usually discard. It's probably less than a half a millimeter thick.

That's a good idea.

Sewing needle.

I shaved the tip of a toothpick with a knife and that worked fine.

It’s not lint - I have used compressed air and needles to clean it out.

One of the big problems with USB-C is that both sides of the connector can get filled with lint. The good news is that it is pretty easy to clean out, just take a needle or safety pin and scrape out the lint. It will be extremely compacted from you trying to push the cable in all the way over and over, but if you keep scraping I will bet you pull surprisingly large lint chunks.

my iphone wasn't charging properly. I just did what you recommended and now it works well. There was a lot compressed dust indeed. Thank you!

They went the other direction for the 2018 model - my work MBP has a death grip on my non-Apple USB-C cables and I have to use excessive force to remove them.

Same, but with Apple-branded cables. I fear I'm going to damage them every time I take one out. They're near-permanent once connected.

[EDIT] all Apple-branded because when I've needed one locally stores around here still don't really stock non-Apple USB-C cables. Some A-to-C for Android phones, maybe. That's about it. Shelf after shelf of various cheap Micro-USB cables and chargers, though. I really wish they'd left an A port or two on these things.

I have a sample size of 1 for Apple branded usb-c cables which is the one my Mac was supplied with, so I assume that was tested with the Mac, hence why I only have this problem with non-Apple cables. And indeed, the apple cable is loose in my other devices, though not as dramatically as their cables are tight in the mac.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com