continuing its march to take over the tech world usbc is getting an upgrade to
handle up to 240 watts which is enough
to power most of the gadgets you use every day
it's an awesome feature but it's also a little confusing so let's break down how
exactly this works what devices will use it and how to know if your electronics
are compatible the main reason that the usb implementers forum wanted to bump
the max power delivery from 100 watts to 240 watts is to get closer to a world of
near universal charging for consumer electronics 100 watts is more than
nearly any phone would need but as usb-c
charging grill was more popular on laptops that 100 watt limit rules it out
for higher powered machines such as gaming laptops and mobile workstations
that designers and engineers use usbc can even be used to power laptop
docks and monitors but that 100 watts again simply isn't enough for larger
displays either that means the upgrade to 240 watts will be good news for a
huge number of everyday people not just folks who have ever had a
laptop charger break or go missing but also those who have had a hard time
getting a new one in a pinch because of the huge number of incompatible charging
tips out there i mean there are so called universal chargers with over a
dozen interchangeable tips included and even those won't fit in every laptop ask
me how i know that
but what do you need to take advantage of this new standard
well this is where it gets a little tricky
you can't just send 240 watts of power down any old usbc cable part of the
reason for this is that the new usb power delivery specification that allows
for such high wattages works by bumping up the maximum voltage to 48 volts while
keeping the 5 amps of current the same and if you remember from high school
physics that volts times amps equals watts 48 times 5
is 240. we'll tell you why voltage is important right after we thank jackery
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percent off with code Linus tech tips so back to talking about power when you use
higher and higher voltages you increase the risk of electrical arcing that can
damage equipment now this isn't a big deal when connecting a cable or while
it's plugged in but when you go to unplug it
that's when arcing can cause a serious hazard
this means that 241 usb-c cables have to
be engineered differently so that cord you got three years ago
isn't going to work the good news is that older usb-c cables are being
deprecated or phased out but this is obviously going to take some time so
what should you look for well the usb inflamers forum was nice enough to come
out with official logos for cables that can support 240 watts of power which
should make your search a little easier but be wary that you'll need to pay
attention to determine the data transfer speeds of course the chargers themselves
also need to support the new standard and there's an official logo for that
too keep in mind these logos are probably going to be on the packaging
and not on the cables themselves so don't go rooting around with a pile of
bare cables or loose chargers in the bargain bin and expect whatever you pull
out to work but if you don't see those logos anywhere remember that the usb
implementers forum is officially referring to these cables and chargers
as extended power range or epr
so if you see these letters on a cable or charger that you're looking at
you're probably good to go and of course the ports on the device you're actually
trying to power need to support the new spec too so look out for usb power
delivery 3.1 which is part of the usb type-c 2.1 spec
just to make it all nice and confusing the spec is very new so don't expect to
see tons of compatible cables chargers and laptops on the market just yet
and there will be some devices that even this new usb revision won't be powerful
enough to charge such as those really beefy tank-like
gaming laptops that have multiple chargers they're not going to work with
a single cable but as the usb-c standard becomes more and more capable the hope
is that in the near future basically any contemporary corridor charger will power
whatever portable gadget you have and full power usbc wall sockets might even
become a common thing as a result until then though
make your own labels thanks for watching like dislike check
out some of our other videos maybe something on usb type c or charging or
maybe um oh what's the gallium nitride that's
cool and uh don't forget to comment below with video suggestions and uh
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