For some reason, everyone thinks that USB-C is great and that every device – laptops, cameras, iPhones, iPads, headphones – should have USB-C ports and charge over USB-C.
I recently got two devices that charge over USB-C: my work laptop and a 4th generation iPad Air. I can tell you from my experience that USB-C is terrible. I don't know why anyone would want this.
My personal laptop is from 2013. It has a MagSafe charging port and USB-A ports. MagSafe is wonderfully convenient. USB-A ports, while not being a reversible port like USB-C, at least make it easy to insert and remove cables and peripherals. The USB-C ports on my new work laptop are super tight. I feel like I am going to break the USB-C plug head every time I have to remove the power cable. Got forbid I ever trip over the cable while it's plugged in. I'll ruin the plug at best, the laptop at worst.
The iPad is the same problem. By contrast, iPhone has a Lightning port. Lightning ports and cables are great. Easy to insert, easy to remove, and – like USB-C – it doesn't matter which way you plug it in. I can plug and unplug the Lightning cable with one hand. Not so with the iPad. That cable is stuck in there when charging and it takes two hands to unplug. And again, I feel like I have to be careful not to rip the head off the cable or damage the port on the iPad.
I never had this concern with Lighting, MagSafe, or USB-A. And if it meant I needed to take an extra charging cable when carrying my kit, that was okay by me. Now I will need to carry one or two extra cables with me if I travel... at least until we reach that mythical state when every device can charge over USB-C.
Of course, by then technology will have moved on to something else. That something else will for sure be the final, universal answer to charging all the things. I can only hope it will be easier to use than USB-C.
I recently got two devices that charge over USB-C: my work laptop and a 4th generation iPad Air. I can tell you from my experience that USB-C is terrible. I don't know why anyone would want this.
My personal laptop is from 2013. It has a MagSafe charging port and USB-A ports. MagSafe is wonderfully convenient. USB-A ports, while not being a reversible port like USB-C, at least make it easy to insert and remove cables and peripherals. The USB-C ports on my new work laptop are super tight. I feel like I am going to break the USB-C plug head every time I have to remove the power cable. Got forbid I ever trip over the cable while it's plugged in. I'll ruin the plug at best, the laptop at worst.
The iPad is the same problem. By contrast, iPhone has a Lightning port. Lightning ports and cables are great. Easy to insert, easy to remove, and – like USB-C – it doesn't matter which way you plug it in. I can plug and unplug the Lightning cable with one hand. Not so with the iPad. That cable is stuck in there when charging and it takes two hands to unplug. And again, I feel like I have to be careful not to rip the head off the cable or damage the port on the iPad.
I never had this concern with Lighting, MagSafe, or USB-A. And if it meant I needed to take an extra charging cable when carrying my kit, that was okay by me. Now I will need to carry one or two extra cables with me if I travel... at least until we reach that mythical state when every device can charge over USB-C.
Of course, by then technology will have moved on to something else. That something else will for sure be the final, universal answer to charging all the things. I can only hope it will be easier to use than USB-C.