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Comment by esotericsean | Hacker News Reader

Curious what other devices people have that use USB-C? The only one I have is my Nintendo Switch. So for me, this is mostly an inconvenience having to get new cables for my phone. I'll miss Lightning.

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Nearly every single device I use regularly that can be USB powered is USB C at this point. Just from looking around, my mouse, my Android phone, both my work and personal laptop, my Switch, my portable speaker, my headphones, my iPad, my Raspberry Pi, and even my Pokemon Go Ball.

At this point I actively avoid buying any devices that are not USBC because there is an alternative to any product I could want. Products shipping with micro USB in 2023 are almost always indicative of a cheap product or an old product that hasn't received any meaningful updates.

The only glaring examples are Apple phones/accessories, which I avoid, and sadly fitness devices. My water bottle and watch both have proprietary connections, I assume because a water proof USBC connection is just not feasible on small devices. Hopefully some kind of standard gets established there as I've had products that look like they have very similar connections that almost fit but they don't actually charge.

> Products shipping with micro USB in 2023 are almost always indicative of a cheap product or an old product that hasn't received any meaningful updates.

This is only somewhat true. Some products are decent quality, but they’re not really “tech” products, they just do power delivery via MicroUSB. Also there are some high end products that have not switched and are huge pain points. Like Logitech makes these very good wireless mouses that are still micro USB.

I’ve wanted a USB C iPhone for years, but will be skipping this because I’m already setup to have to support 4 different types of cable: Lightning, USB C, and Micro USB (and USB A)

For Micro USB and USB A I just have converters that I can slip onto a USB C cord which works because I have to use them less frequently, but I have high quality Lightning cables.

Plus all the other stuff I have that I’d have to buy a new version of to fully get rid of Lightning: 2 Apple TV remotes, AirPods Max, at least a new AirPod Pro charging case and my basic iPad.

It sucks. I’ve wanted this for a while but it’s probably going to be at least 3 more years before I get to demote Lightning to the same category as USB A and Micro USB

I just wish Apple had sucked it up and done this sooner before they got forced to. I really do think the strategy was to eventually have at least the non Pro iPhones go completely portless.

My USBC mouse is Logitech. It's the sideways mouse that is supposed to help with carpal tunnel and it's been fantastic after I got used to it. I'm actually surprised that they have any current mice that are not USBC.

Is it an older model that is popular that they just aren't changing because people are still buying them? If you're willing to try something new you might be surprised by the improvements they have in their latest lines.

My headphones, laptop (MacBook), work laptop (also MacBook), Nintendo Switch, external hard drives, and external battery all use USB-C. None of these were intentional switches for me, just the default option. At this point, my phone is the only cable I have that isn’t USB-C, so this will be super convenient.

My partner’s phone (an Android) is already on USB-C, so this will also let us share cables, which is a huge plus.

> laptop (MacBook)

The fact that people talk about how integrated the Apple ecosystem is, yet you needed an adapter to connect its phone to its laptop says it all.

You didn't need an adapter, just a cable. In recent years, that cable came included with the iPhone. And it's the same cable used for charging the phone.

It doesn't matter whether the adapter is stubby or long (like a non-adapting cable), it still cost like $20 for no reason, despite being "such a well integrated ecosystem"

When it came to apple, that kind of stuff has always been pure puffery and marketing anyway. "Their hardware is the best" people would say, while their computers sat at 100% fan, choking under the strain of running basic apps with no real cooling, while the user worked around a stuck "C" key and being careful with their inflating battery.

At this point I don't have any portable electronics which do not use USB C (kind of by design, I have so many USB C cables and almost no microUSB left and don't want to buy more of the latter) and only have a handful of things in general which still use MicroUSB.

So, my phone, tablet, steam deck, power bank, bluetooth-to-wired audio adapter, all use USB C. Same with any of the laptops I'm looking at getting. Thus, all I ever need to carry is a power brick, a USB C hub, a C-to-C cable and an A-to-C cable and it'll be sufficient for everything.

My laptop is USB-C.

Everything else I have is micro USB: my phone, my ereader (PocketBook), my reMarkable tablet, my bluetooth headset, my bike GPS, the lights of my bike, my portable batteries.

I fear the day I will have to replace all of those with USB-C because, currently, I can travel with only one small charger (as long as I don’t take my laptop).

I do not follow your reasoning. There are extremely small C chargers and if the replacement is gradual, you could also just carry C male-micro USB male cable(s) and micro USB female to C male adapters. Such adapters adhere to the specification, it's C female to legacy USB which is not.

Just get a USB-C to microUSB adapter to put on the end, and you could charge it all with just your laptop charger.

I have phone, tablet, headphones, laptop, steam deck, graphics tablet, art light box, and various battery chargers and camera lights & accessories that all use usb C. Kindle and Fitbit is about the only thing I use that's not USBC I think.

At this point basically every gadget in my house not made by Apple, and even then most of the gadgets made by Apple.

MacBook, iPad, Studio Display, Switch, Sony headphones, Kindle, my wife’s Pixel phone, Steam Deck, Raspberry Pi. The only micro USB devices I have are some old portable chargers. The only Lightning devices I have are my phone, my AirPods and, for some reason that still escapes me, the external trackpad Apple sells.

If the only USB-C gadget you have is the Switch you must not have bought many gadgets in the past five years. Which actually isn’t a bad thing, good on you.

My Kindle Oasis and my Bose QC35 are my next most often charged things after my iPhone, and they’re both micro USB and only three years old. The only USB-C device I own is a kitchen scale. I have more mini USB and full-size USB-B things!

Nintendo Switch, iPads, M2 MacBook Pro, HP work laptop, external san disk SSD, Jabra Headset, and USB C MagSafe batteries.

I wish my Garmin bike stuff had USB C.

> I wish my Garmin bike stuff had USB C.

Same, my last non-usb C devices are my inreach and edge 500. I guess it's a testament to how long they last.

My Wahoo Elemnt Roam has USB-C. If you're willing to consider other manufacturers than Garmin.

MacBook Pro, wireless mouse, an audio mixer I think, a couple other things. I still use a lot more USB-A/B but it's creeping up there. I probably won't upgrade this generation but the switch is in the category of utterly inevitable and mostly will mean I have to buy some adapters and maybe a couple cables by the time it happens.

Isn't the Switch some "almost USB-C but not quite" thing? I remember issues with that.

Most everything is moving towards USB-C but it's slow; I want Milwaukee and them to have more USB-C charging devices for the smaller battery charged things.

The issue is with the dock, the Switch itself charges fine with the same cable/PD charger I use for my MacBook, phone and everything else.

my devices are mostly micro-usb, the apple devices are lightning and I'm getting more usb-c devices sort of randomly.

I've started buying multi-standard cables - they usually terminate with micro-usb, and have tiny attached adapters for usb-c and lightning.

higher quality example: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071WNQYV6 but there are lots of cheaper variants.

Usb c devices i own: Apple MacBook laptop, Lenovo laptop, Sony headphones, Bose headphones, bike lights, headlamp, probably more. Lightning is the odd one out for me.

Laptop, Steam Deck, DAP, Kindle, battery bank, ANC earbuds

Looking around the only USB-C device I have now is my phone.

- Phone: USB-C

- Bose wireless headphones charging: Micro-USB

- The hand-held fan (nice one) I bought last week in the heatwave: Micro-USB

- Lenovo tablet: Micro-USB

- Macbook Pro: Magsafe 2

- Monitor 1: Thunderbolt 2 (same connector as Mini DisplayPort)

- Monitor 2: HDMI

- Spare monitors: HDMI x 2, DVI x 1

- TVs: HDMI x 2, DVI x 1 + 3.5mm-audio

- External keyboard and trackpad: WiFi only and batteries, no connector

- Spare external keyboard and mouse:: USB-A

- WiFi modules: RJ-45 (power + data)

- External storage: USB-3.0-Micro-B (the weird split one)

iPad, MacBooks, Chromebooks, Nintendo Switch, and basically every IoT gadget and other toy that used to use Micro-USB, for the last couple years they've all been USB-C. Even the cheapo stuff. I was ecstatic to throw away all but one (just in case) Micro USB cable I had. I won't jump for joy getting rid of Lightning cables, but OTOH I won't miss them either.

Bike lights, shaver, Laptop, flash drive, YubiKey, power bank, ANC-earbuds, custom built HW, a few Dev boards, ...

For me it's Steam Deck, Soundcore Headphones, Phone (I use android), Laptop and Pill Dispenser (a medical device). It's nice just to grab my high speed steam deck charging brick and a spare USB-C to keep all that stuff in charging rotation overnight when out of the house.

I don't necessarily "miss" lightning but it was a superior design. With USB-C the cables are female so you're more likely to break off the connector on the device instead of the cable, which is cheap and easy to replace. Lightning didn't have that problem.

I disagree. In my experience of having both of these for a number of years I never had to replace a USB-C cable because it was broken. I had to replace the lighting cable more than I can count.

Laptops (Work MacBook and a Thinkpad) and i do not use the magic thingy for charging. My phone and my switch. And i used those things on travels surprisingly often.

Do you use lightning for charging your phone when traveling and mag save for your macbook?

Multiple different wireless headphones. Wireless keyboard. Wireless mouse. Game controllers. A non-Apple phone. Multiple laptops. E-reader. A rechargeable flashlight. A rechargeable lantern. External battery pack.

For me I’ve got my Nintendo Switch, headphones, soon my new phone, and a vape that all charge on USB-C. I’m excited to have one cable to rule them all, personally.

Most things I have and still use, use usbc for charging or power. Or lightning.

Peripherals, usb-a is still what you usually get, just going by what’s common on store shelves. Just got a new kit at work a few weeks ago—all these brand-new devices are made to plug into A, even if the other end is usb-c. They come with A-to-c cables, or else are A-only. In the former case, I can at least fix it by just using c cables I already have.

But, overall, the peripheral world as most people experience it is still A-first. C options are usually more expensive, may be part of why.

My MacBook Air and my portable external monitor gets power and video from one USB C cable.

Portable external monitor, tell me more.

I have this one:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B095GG31KX

- laptops with USB-C charging (MacBooks)

- Android phones (our family collectively has 2 Android phones and 2 iPhones)

- iPad

- wireless headphones

Almost everything beside the iPhone.

I have none at all. So I'm not so happy about this. It means I will have to throw away lots of good lightning cables I've amassed over the years. Thanks EU, I guess.

Tell that to the parallel port cable I still have sitting in my cable box just in case I need to fire up an ancient dot matrix printer.

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