Sheesh!I don't know who to trust! I was ready to order some cables from them. That'll teach me to not look up Benson's reviews.

Bugger. Just bought 3 anker iphone cables (pesky kids!)

Somehow I get this feeling that there are more USB-C issues yet to surface ...


The higher (than 5.0 volts) voltages and complex interaction between the two USB-C end devices, and with the USB-C cable itself, seems likely to create unwanted interactions. The expectation that all three parts of the USB-C puzzle will always obey all the rules seems risky.

In the linked exposé video, whether the 15 volts present on the cable end actually damages the '5 volt' smartphone would depend upon the protections built into the smartphone. Manufacturers may need to reinforce their input voltage circuitry to withstand unexpected high feed voltages, and to test with 'out of bounds' USB power source and cable configurations.

Update: Apparently USB-C could become a 'bad news thing' for newsworthy device failures. If people start viewing USB-C as 'dangerous' that would be an interesting turn.

Thankfully iPhone cables don't have the same potential issue that USB-C cables have.

All my Anker USB cables (I don't have any USB-C ones) have been excellent.

USB-C does seem very easy to screw up in a dangerous way, it feels like there are more faulty cables than there are good ones.

I wonder when he's going to test the only Apple USB-C to USB-C cable.

Rumors currently point to Apple's entire Mac lineup adding USB-C with Thunderbolt 3 over the next 6 months or so. Currently the only device I have at home with USB-C is the Apple TV 4 but 2017 is looking to be when my next computer gains it.

Thanks for mentioning this, Tom. I think you've found the cause of the poor bluetooth connection I had between my phone and the Anker sport speaker. When I turn the phone's wifi off, I don't think I'm having any issues. Seems like that could be the issue. Frustrating.

Can you limit your phone or your WiFi base station to only use 5Ghz when you need Bluetooth to work? That might resolve the interference.

If you look into which WiFi standards have the potential for Bluetooth interference, you may be able to configure your WiFi to reduce the problem, even on 2.4Ghz WiFi. Not using 40Mhz wide radio channels, perhaps.

Or disabling whatever particular WiFi modes are suspect.

The Wifi router may also have a "Bluetooth Coexistence" setting that can be enabled.

Also, Anker makes the only Macbook replacement batteries that I will use other than the originals, and I've tried several. Most of the aftermarket batteries I've tried swell within a few days to a few months, and rarely hold a charge as long as and OEM battery. I find the Anker ones acceptable considering the significant cost savings.

Agreed. I've ordered a few of them for my clients and they seem good on follow ups. Generic replacement batteries are so notoriously bad, it's nice to have a reliable manufacturer. I love that they seem to be sticking with this rather esoteric product segment, particularly when it requires keeping such a wide array of models in production.

[1 Day Only] Anker's 5th Anniversary Sale - Over 30% Off

http://slickdeals.net/f/9079151-1-day-only-anker-s-5th-anniversary-sale-over-30-off

Dang, wish I'd checked the board yesterday! Thanks for posting it, though.

This article does a reasonable job of explaining how USB-C, Thunderbolt and DisplayPort coexist and interplay on the same physical connector.

Explaining Thunderbolt 3, USB-C, and Everything In Between

Personally, I have ordered a new 2016 MacBook Pro 15" with intention of connecting three external 4K displays, plus wired Ethernet and a bunch of legacy USB things. Currently hunting for a Thunderbolt 3 dock that ticks all my feature desires.

As I understand it you can only have two displays on TB3. Two streams as they call it.

It doesn't prevent you putting a DisplayLink type device on your TB3 hub though.

Ref:
What are the video formats supported by Thunderbolt 3? https://thunderbolttechnology.net/tech/faq

My understanding is the 2016 15" MacBook has dual TB 3 controllers, so up to four external 4K displays are supported. Or two 5K displays.

https://9to5mac.com/2016/10/27/4k-and-5k-displays-with-new-macbook-pro/

I am currently using a DisplayLink USB device to drive two external monitors. The DisplayLink software driver/firmware for Mac has gone from terrible to mostly usable, but I fear every macOS update and DisplayLink driver update. Very slow to fix problems and some functionality has taken years to get right. Looking forward to unplugging it from my Mac and moving on.

Ok but that won't be through one dock then.

Re DisplayLink I had a perfectly usable 1920x1080 over USB2.0 display as a "dock" at home. It worked well in Windows 7. Windows remembered the relative location etc of it with two completely different dock solutions and remembered each one invidually.

Even played video ok at a pinch.

I had to take a photo of this because it's a little ridiculous.

I was asked by a client to take a bunch of hard drives and put all the data onto a flash drive. So I plugged in my Anker multi-USB charger, which includes a USB C port capable of charging my XPS 13. I also used it to provide more power to the Anker 4 port USB3 hub I used (for my laptop with only 2 ports). Not pictured but just off to the left is my Anker SATA to USB3 adapter, which is the best I've used and by far the best designed (I've tried several others and they were all garbage). I used an older USB hard drive adapter for the IDE drives they had, which was unfortunately not an Anker device.

Clearly, I'm on board.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, that red USB C cable is Anker too.

Looks like the cable connections to my PSVR.

I am now using a very nice 2016 MacBook Pro 15 inch with two 4K external screens and two 1920x1200 displays. It works quite well, especially the 4K screens.

I am still using the DisplayLink USB 2.0 hub/video thing to drive the 1920x1200 screens as there is not yet a USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 powered hub available that fits my requirements.

Turns out that virtually all the existing USB-C charging hubs are not compatible with the 80+ watt power requirement of the 15" MacBook Pro charging, they were spec'ed for the lightweight MacBook or the 13" MacBook Pro, both of which need 60 watts or less. Even the Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter (Apple USB-C to USB-A charging adapter) is not rated for the full 85 watts.

Which means one of my USB-C ports must be dedicated to charging the laptop from the OEM Apple charger. Two USB-C ports feed the dual 4K screens, leaving one port for everything else, via that DisplayLink unit. I expect in a few months these troubles will be resolved as more and better hub products arrive,

In the meantime, articles such as this from the wirecutter will attempt to clarify, explain and rate the panoply of USB-C cables and adapters bubbling into the marketplace.

HOW ANKER IS BEATING APPLE AND SAMSUNG AT THEIR OWN ACCESSORY GAME

FWIW, I've got a Hootoo adapter (discussed in your linked Wirecutter article) and a Dell DA200. Both work great. I particularly like the way the Dell's captive cable folds back into the case.

Great article! I knew I liked how that company operated, and that just made me like them more.

Now I just need them to make a portable power pack that can charge my XPS 13...

I set up that Hootoo adapter for one client and wasn't wild about it. I'm not sure why. It just seemed a little flaky to me.

I've set up two clients with the DA200 and it's fantastic for travelling presenters. It's amazing that they were able to fit a VGA connector on that tiny little thing. I can't wait for the day when everyone finally replaces their projectors and we can say goodbye to VGA.

I mostly bought the Hootoo thing because I wanted a SD card reader and more USB slots on some occasions. The Dell is otherwise my go-to adapter.

I would really like something that passes the full 87W through *and* does HDMI out, USB-A downstream etc... it's annoying to be doing a build on a full battery and get it down to something like 80% by the time it's done.

I wonder if anyone is prioritizing this though in their USB-C designs. I could have just bought a cheaper adaptor

I have an anker battery case and wall-wart. Both have functioned wonderfully!

-jk

Edit: I made something of a hash of this on the first go round, was working from memory while sitting in an airport departure lounge. No excuse, that.

Changes have been made.

I will posit that the original MacBook (no suffix) with a single USB-C port threw a real wrinkle in the process.

The very slender MacBook 'one port' has an oddball USB-C port. No Thunderbolt, and a weird non-standard USB-C fast charging voltage. The bundled charger has USB-C shaped sockets and cord, but the voltage and current are unique across the MacBook line. And this disagrees with the proper USB-C spec for power and voltage.

Third party products that were designed and specified with only that original slim MacBook as reference are now offside in terms of USB-C compatibility with the more recent 'full size, full power' MacBook Pro. Both the 13 and 15 inch models.

Even Apple's own MacBook 'one port' expansion adapter (HDMI, USB-A plus pass through USB-C power) is not rated for the full voltage and current of the big MacBook Pro USB-C chargers.

IIRC, the big iPad Pro, which can charge at 29 watt rate (or thereabouts) when powered by the slim MacBook USB-C power brick, can only charge at 12 watts using the 61 or 87 watt power brick from the big MacBook Pro USB-C wall chargers. Big iPad and slim MacBook were released about the same time, and caught in the same non-standard 'faster charge' scheme.

I am unaware of any third party chargers that can fast charge the big iPad and fully power a 15 inch 87 watt MacBook Pro.

I suspect Apple themselves are unhappy with how this USB-C power/charge thing has worked out.

Wow. I was thinking of getting a big iPad Pro some time soon, this is good to know for traveling with it and the big MacBook.

I have the big iPad pro, an ipad 3, and a mini. I only use the mini.

My understanding is that all the modern iPhone (7, 6s, 6?) and recent model iPad will charge at 10 watt rate when connected to either an Apple iPad charger (or equivalent third party 10 watt, 2.x amp USB charger), OR to any MacBook or MacBook Pro USB-C charger.

Actually, some iPad chargers are rated for 12 watts. Others say 10 watts on the label. I have both variations. Not sure which came with which iPad generation. If I had to guess, the iPad 3 or 4 had huge batteries, so maybe those had the 12 watt wall charger included?

It is the 29 watt charge rate into iPad Pro that is constrained to a specific MacBook charger.