Low-wattage USB-C: Some cables with USB-C connectors at one end and a different kind of USB connector (like Type A or Charge multiple devices at once with a total output of 100W, delivering rapid charging speeds to keep up with your busy lifestyle.

We then looked at how fast the cable would charge and transfer data, and whether it supported an alternate mode to run a monitor, using real-world hardware.

Enjoy unparalleled compatibility with the charger, designed to seamlessly work with over 1,000 devices including smartphones, tablets, laptops, earbuds, and more. Some USB-C cables feature a chip or e-Marker that contains information the device reads. This two meter cable’s e-Marker is incorrect. Micro Type B) can’t pass a lot of power. They mostly manage USB 2.0 data (480 Mbps) plus no more than 15W (5 volts at 3 amps), which is enough to charge smartphones and tablets. These cables may have USB 3.0 SuperSpeed (SS + a USB logo) or similar branding or logos on one tip. Or not!(See figure above.) Physically, the cable is a flat design with a rubbery outer sheath. The strain relief where the cable connects to the housing is minimal, as well, which makes us question its durability over time. If you’re looking for a high-quality USB-C cable that will give you excellent performance, it’s hard to beat Cable Matters 6-foot USB-C cable. The cable can do it all and do it all well (well, almost) from charging at up to 100 watts, transferring data from your USB 3.1 SSD, or running a monitor. The only area where it doesn’t excel is in Thunderbolt performance, which is limited to 20Gbps. That’s not a ding in our book because that’s the tradeoff of a 6-foot cable. To hit 40Gbps, you’d have to step down to a shorter cable.

USB-C is a broadly defined connection and cabling format, rather than a protocol for defining specific kinds of data that passes over it. Hardware devices—like the 2015 to 2018 12-inch MacBook and some non-Apple smartphones, tablets, and laptops—use USB-C to carry USB 2.0, 3.0, and 3.1, as well as ethernet networking and DisplayPort/HDMI video signals (and even DVI and VGA!) via adapters. In the end though, it’s what’s inside a cable that matters the most and the Apple USB-C cable has top-notch wiring materials that can deliver the most power to your laptop, phone, or tablet. Want to charge your laptop at 100 watts all day? That shouldn’t be a problem for the Apple USB-C Charge Cable. For charging speeds we recorded the maximum wattage at which the cable could charge an Asus ROG Strix 15 gaming laptop over its USB-C port using USB-Power Delivery with an Aukey 100 watt USB-PD charger as the source while the laptop was under load.USB-PD today is limited to 100 watts (with a 240-watt spec on the way). Any USB-C to USB-C cable should handle 3 ampsat 20 volts, or 60 watts.All of the USB-C to USB-C cables fell into the standard 60-watt or 100-watt camps. Obviously, as a charge cable it’s terrible for data transfer and can’t drive Thunderbolt devices nor your monitor, but as a charging cable it’s excellent.This heavy-duty braided option is a good choice for taking advantage of the most modern charging standards

When using both USB-C ports simultaneously, we recommend using the upper port for charging laptops. Thunderbolt 3 is a data-transfer standard that can carry up to 40Gbps of information. It was built to work only with the USB-C connector style and specification. It can also carry all the kinds of traffic noted above for “plain” USB-C devices.We didn’t test the temperature of each cable’s housing, but we did test the cheapest cable by running it at 5 amps and 20 volts for an hour. The housing heated up by 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and the cable itself became relatively warm (see the thermal image below). Not ideal, but it did this without failure. We subjected other cables to two-hour loads without failure, as well. Apple’s power-cable identification guide for details about figuring out which cable is which. Apple The trouble intrudes when we talk about power delivery, a separate part of the USB specification and incorporated into USB-C and Thunderbolt 3. Before USB-C, even though it was possible to carry laptop levels of power over a USB cable designed for that purpose, manufacturers generally avoided this—probably to avoid cable confusion. Anker