Much as in other areas of life, a lot of tech myths persist despite them having been debunked, or having never had much basis to begin with. You can probably still find people convinced that 5G cellular towers are part of a government conspiracy, despite the fact that the tech has been worldwide for several years now, and doesn't seem to be benefiting any one country. Others treat generative AI as if it's truly intelligent, rather than just synthesizing massive amounts of human-created content.
All USB-C connections support fast charging
They should, but they don't
The USB Power Delivery (USB PD) standard is so widespread that USB-C charging is not only de facto for many devices, but legally enshrined in the European Union if you're not using wireless technology. It's those regulations that finally forced Apple to let go of its proprietary Lightning format, and good riddance.
USB PD is impressive, too, since some ports and accessories can deliver anywhere between 100 and 240W. Coincidentally, 240W was the amount of power my previous gaming laptop required, and it would've been so much more convenient to have owned a compact charger and cable combo than the proprietary brick my computer shipped with. If it had ever stopped working suddenly, I would've been in deep trouble.
When USB PD is present, it's up to a device or accessory maker to decide how much power they're going to allow.
There are a few issues dismantling the fast-charging myth, beginning with the fact that companies aren't required to support USB PD at all. If they don't, a port could be limited to as little as 7.5W, which is only enough to (very slowly) recharge your smartphone.
When USB PD is present, it's up to a device or accessory maker to decide how much power they're going to allow. Most of the time, 240W is overkill, so products are engineered to handle far less. They can't exceed 100W at all without USB PD 3.1, a revision launched in 2021.
If rapid charging matters to you, you'll need to research the wattages a port, cable, and/or charger are rated for. The lowest wattage of the bunch will dictate your peak charging speed. Don't worry -- a high-powered charger won't fry a port designed for smaller capacities.
All USB-C connections move data at gigabit speeds
Apple, I'm looking in your direction
Because it's a much newer standard than USB-A and associated with all sorts of modern devices -- from smartphones and laptops to PEVs -- you might assume that USB-C is equipped to handle not just their power requirements, but their data flow too. I think that's reasonable, considering that we're living in an era of 4K video, lossless music, and games with 100GB downloads.
In reality, some ports and cables may be restricted to USB 2.0 speeds, which top out at 480Mbps. That might sound fast relative to your internet connection, yet it's absolutely lethargic compared to what flash storage is capable of. Let's use that 100GB download as a convenient yard stick. At 480Mbps, it would take about 30 minutes to copy that game to an external drive. Simply bumping up to the 5Gbps of USB 3.0, though, would shorten your wait to about 3 minutes.
480Mbps might sound fast relative to your internet connection, yet it's absolutely lethargic compared to what flash storage is capable of.
The worst offender at the moment is Apple, which continues to limit the cheapest iPads and iPhones to USB 2.0, including the iPhone 17 and iPhone Air. With the base storage of iPhones now starting at 256GB, it could take well over an hour to perform a local backup. When it comes to 4K videos, you might sometimes be better off sharing over Wi-Fi or 5G. I wouldn't want to produce a student film on anything short of an iPhone 17 Pro.
When transfer speed matters, verify the specs of every link in the chain, just as you would with power. The fastest SSD in the world is going to be handicapped if you connect it to a 10Gbps PC port or use a 5Gbps cable.
USB-C and Thunderbolt go hand-in-hand
All too rarely
For a while now, Intel's Thunderbolt power and data standard has relied on the same connector format as USB-C. You can plug any USB-C cable into a Thunderbolt 3, 4, or 5 port and make some use of it. Based on that, it's halfway logical to think that the technologies should be interchangeable.
Not so, obviously. Thunderbolt 4 requires USB 4, and as I implied in the last section, not every USB-C port is equipped for it. Moreover, companies can decide to offer USB 4 without Thunderbolt if they want to. That's rare and rather pointless, but it still means that you'll need to doublecheck whether the gear you're buying is up to snuff.
Not every USB-C port is equipped for USB 4, and companies can decide to offer USB 4 without Thunderbolt if they want to.
Thunderbolt 5 complicates things a little further. While you can use a compatible peripheral with any USB 4/Thunderbolt port, that port needs to support USB 4 v2 to achieve Thunderbolt 5's peak speeds, between 80 and 120Gbps. Device makers seem to skip the "USB 4 v2" label, so you really need to hunt for that Thunderbolt 5 designation in tech specs.
To be fair, Thunderbolt 4 is more than most people need, and simply having Thunderbolt baked into most USB 4 products is a major step forward. I'd just appreciate more consistency in the industry.
Any cable will do for video
Maybe one day, but not yet
One of the reasons Thunderbolt is such a big deal is that you can count on it if you want to connect an external display. You might need an HDMI or DisplayPort adapter if you're not using a dock, but that's a relatively small price to pay.
Any ports and cables you use for video will need to support DisplayPort Alt Mode.
Otherwise, things aren't so clear-cut. Any ports and cables you use for video will need to support DisplayPort Alt Mode, and that's true regardless if you're connecting to a display with HDMI, DisplayPort, or direct USB-C input. It's usually safe to assume that anything with USB 4 will work -- in other situations, however, you may need to hunt for a "D," "DP," or "DP Alt Mode" marking, if not (once again) scan a product's specifications.
There is some good news here, in that many products rated for USB 3.1 speeds are compatible. Alt Mode isn't a new development. If you're desperate to connect to a screen or projector ahead of a meeting, it can't hurt to try the gear you've got -- it might actually work.