2

I'm very curious why my Apple 61W USB-C can charge a seemingly-arbitrary set of devices. It can charge my Macbook Pro and Nexus 6P, but not my sister's LG G5 or my Anker PowerCore 21000+ battery. My Macbook can charge the Anker through the same Apple cable.

I could believe Apple limits their charger to Apple devices if it weren't successfully charging my Nexus 6P as it does. What the heck is going on?

The USB-C dream seems a bit tainted.

blaha
  • 121
  • Interesting — I hadn't noticed this until I came across this question. I have that same Apple charger (from a 2016 MacBook Pro) and it charges my Nexus 5X phone and Pixel C tablet, but not an Anker PowerCore 20100 battery pack. The chargers that came with the phone and tablet can both charge the PowerCore. Might just be a firmware bug in the Apple charger, maybe relating to how it negotiates USB-PD parameters. – Wyzard Apr 15 '17 at 17:01

2 Answers2

1

Some devices can support more then one type of USB Your Nexus 6P just happens to support USB-C. Oh and also Apple did not make USB Type-C, the USB Implementers Forum did

Giacomo1968
  • 55,001
LakesideMiners
  • 29
  • 7
  • 1
    Thanks for your response. To clarify, the devices that the Apple supply won't charge are both supposedly USB-C compliant, and have USB-C-shaped ports on them. – blaha Apr 04 '17 at 19:23
0

USB-C has different requirements for power adapter safety features based on if the power adapter's USB-C cable is integrated (non-removable) or if it is removable/replaceable.

Power adapters that have a USB-C jack are not allowed to be "always hot". Such power adapters will require a successful USB PD (Power Delivery) negotiation to occur (or for the power consumer to have the correct identification resistors) before they will supply power.

Power adapters that have an integrated cable are allowed to be "always hot", regardless of any sort of consumer device identification.

While all USB-C power consumers should be capable of doing the minimum required PD negotiation (or have the right resistors) to get any random USB-C charger to start supplying power, clearly not all of them do the right thing. For these devices, an "always hot" power adapter (with an integrated USB-C cable) will work, while the smarter/safer power adapters won't work.

Requiring some sort of power consumer identification for power adapters with USB-C jacks is a safety feature intended to prevent the accidental connection of two "hot" USB-C power sources together, which could potentially damage equipment or (in the worst case) start a fire.

Robert Quattlebaum
  • 101