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Comment by fastball | Hacker News Reader

You could also just buy higher quality cables, right? The problem is usually that most consumers see two USB-C cables and one is $10 and the other is $50 so they buy the $10 one, only later realizing (if at all) that the $10 only does data, or only does 50W, or w/e.

But if you actually pay attention it seems like cables work as advertised with reasonable consistency, at least for me.

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They may work as advertised, but the problem is that the cables themselves have no indication of what was advertised in the first place.

The ability to know what the cable you’re holding can do is just not there. Unless you have some way of ensuring that all your cables are the same, you need to:

- discard/donate every cable that you can’t identify (as @brookst did) by its eMarker (though they’re required by spec) unless you own a specialized USB-C voltmeter or multimeter

- manually label every cable with all its unique specifications, either after running it through an eMarker reader or immediately after taking it out of the box

> the problem is that the cables themselves have no indication of what was advertised in the first place

Fortunately, this is changing, though it's shameful it took this long to get standardized, straightforward labeling: https://tidbits.com/2022/09/29/usb-simplifies-branding/

Just plug it in. If you can't judge the the speed by "feel", then run measure how long it takes to charge / transfer a file.

Not sure why you're being downvoted. Lots of phones show how fast they are charging (charging slowly, fast etc)

It's an expensive solution, but most Thunderbolt 4 cables have markings and they support pretty much everything (Thunderbolt, USB, Alt modes, high-wattage charging, etc.).

Because Intel has a certification program for Thunderbolt that makes many things mandatory that are optional (for no good reason) in the USB-C spec: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28744448

> optional (for no good reason)

The reason is that the USB-IF is owned/ run by the manufacturers and many of them want to be able to make cheaper gear (TBF mandatory high tolerances was part of the “problem” with the original Thunderbolt too, lo those many years ago).

This is also why USB-A is not symmetrical as was originally designed: to save money in the connector.

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