Recently, a friend pretended to be a geek and recommended the fast charging of the phone he had been using, and also expressed the view that the fast charging of the type-C port would soon cover the charging scenarios of mobile phones and laptops.

As a migrant worker in both the internet and technology industries, pretending to be a geek still holds reservations about such views. In the eyes of pretending to be a geek, the popularity of the type-C interface is entirely the result of the strong promotion by manufacturers, especially mobile phone manufacturers.

The USB type-C interface, which has a unified interface but chaotic standards, has a convenient and fast side, while also having many drawbacks.

Regarding the question of whether type-c chargers will be uniformly charged in the Jianghu, I pretended to have consulted the market and technical personnel of Lenovo and Dell, and obtained relevant answers from them.

The advantages of type-c charging as a high-frequency application interface have been verified in mobile phone application scenarios such as charging and data transmission.

1. Size is a major advantage of Type-C. Compared to traditional laptop charging and other expansion interfaces, Type-C is compact in size, bringing more flexibility to laptops.

A person related to Lenovo said to pretending to be a geek, ThinkPad's carbon, nano; Lenovo's Xiaoxin series and other products have reduced the thickness of laptops after using the type-c interface, which is also a consideration for the stylish and lightweight type-c.

2. Compatibility is another important advantage of type-C, taking Lenovo, Dell, and HP as examples. Traditional laptop charging interfaces are not compatible among manufacturers. Moreover, even for laptops with different positioning from the same manufacturer, their charger interfaces are not compatible. For example, Lenovo has power interfaces with large and small circular and square ports. Dell and HP's round mouth chargers also come in different sizes. Even so, there is a distinction between round mouth chargers with and without protocols. This also makes it necessary for laptop products of different brands or models of the same brand to use matching chargers in order to work for a long time.

The unified interface of type-c completely eliminates the awkward issue of different charger interfaces. The same type-c interface allows for charging different brands of laptops and mobile devices with fast charging.

3. Type-C also has the advantage of reusability. As previously mentioned, pretending to be a geek, although type-C has a single size, the standards and protocols it supports are very complex.

Dell's technicians pretended to be geeks, stating that the type-c interface can not only be used for charging, but also connect to various devices. Therefore, interface extension will be more flexible.

4. Type-C allows laptops to better understand chargers. Unlike traditional charging interfaces, this new interface comes with a standard charging handshake protocol, allowing laptops to better understand the specifications of chargers and charge devices at the appropriate power.

In traditional round or square mouth chargers, some interfaces come with charging protocols in the later stage, allowing for the corresponding use of fast charging functions. However, this protocol is not compatible among laptop manufacturers, so even if the interfaces are the same, it cannot be charged normally.

Disadvantages of type-c charging

1. Due to power limitations, it is difficult to charge with high current, as the Type-C interface supports too many protocols and complex functions, which makes it impossible to support higher charging power for multifunctional Type-C interfaces. The PD standard protocol can only support a maximum charging power of 100W, and to break through this limitation, private protocols can only be used. For example, the 130W type-c charger used on Dell XPS products uses Dell's own protocol.

Type-C cannot support high power, which is also one of the reasons why many high-end game books still use traditional charging interfaces.

2. The cost of type-C chargers is higher, Dell staff told them to pretend to be geeks, and compared to traditional small round mouth chargers, the cost of type-C charging is higher. These costs are mainly reflected in the use of more fashionable and high-end molds, materials, and new components such as gallium nitride for the new charger.

It is said that the cost of a type-c charger is approximately equivalent to two small round mouth chargers without a protocol. In addition, compared to traditional chargers with protocols, the cost of type-c chargers is also higher.

3. Type-C charging, along with an increase in laptop costs, includes a Type-C interface that only supports data transmission and a Type-C interface that can support bidirectional power supply, ultimately reflecting the cost of laptops. The manufacturer's technical personnel revealed to pretending to be a geek that the difference in technical specifications is reflected in the cost of laptops, which will increase by approximately $5-8.

Adding in the cost of the charger, this calculation alone adds a type-c charging, which increases the overall cost of the laptop by over $10.

For high-end laptops, this cost can be offset, but for low-end laptops priced at just over 2000 yuan, computer manufacturers cannot afford it. Taking Lenovo as an example, after all, its annual net profit margin has only been between 1.5% and 2% in recent years. If costs cannot be controlled, it is difficult to ensure reasonable profits.

4. The mechanical strength of the type-c interface is too low compared to traditional round and square port charging connectors, and the mechanical strength of the type-c interface is very poor.

The higher replacement frequency and lighter weight of mobile phones to some extent conceal the disadvantage of the low mechanical strength of the type-c interface.

Due to the high survival pressure of computer manufacturers, it is impossible for the vast majority of mid to low-end laptops to adopt abnormal testing methods like high-end ThinkPads in the past to ensure the reliability of selected components. A manufacturer told them to pretend to be geeks, and when type-C is used on laptops with higher weight and lower replacement frequency, the disadvantage of the strength of the type-C interface will become apparent in a relatively short period of time.

After summarizing the advantages and disadvantages of using type-c charging for laptops, computer manufacturers pretend to be geeks and understand that for type-c charging, computer manufacturers have the following principles:

1. For laptops that are positioned as high-end, such as lightweight and stylish, the first choice is to use Type-C chargers, which are relatively high-end and come standard with Type-C chargers. Due to the higher probability of public and media exposure of such products, there is no doubt that they will first use the latest and most dazzling technologies and designs.

2. Products that pursue streamlined interfaces will also prioritize the use of type-c interfaces, which support a wide range of technical standards. Some commercial laptops will also prioritize the use of type-c.

3. Choose whether to add a type-C interface based on the positioning of the laptop product. For example, low-end laptops will definitely not consider adding a type-C interface at present; Even with the addition of the type-c interface, due to cost considerations, the PD charging function will not be opened.

For laptops in the mid-range, both traditional charging interfaces and rechargeable functions will be added to the type-c interface, but the standard charger is still a traditional charger. If users have a type c charging requirement, they can purchase the corresponding charger separately.

This operation will also drive the sales of chargers or other adapter accessories with high Gross margin.

Overall, the popularization of type-C charging interfaces in laptops is a future trend, but this trend will take a long time to be realized. From the current situation, except for business trips and other scenarios, laptops are mostly used with chargers plugged in. Some PC manufacturers therefore believe that users do not have a high demand for fast charging, and traditional chargers can meet the application needs of most people.

Only when there is no price difference between traditional chargers and type-c chargers, and the laptop motherboard also uses more reliable innovative technology, so there is no need to worry about the reliability of type-c anymore, is that the true popularity of type-c charging.

For a long time to come, there will definitely be a trend of traditional interfaces and type-c interfaces advancing side by side.