The USB-IF forum recently announced that the revised version 2.1 of USB type-c (abbreviated as USB c) will more than double the charging power of the interface, from 100W to 240W.

Previously, the maximum power transmitted by USB C was 100 watts, which undoubtedly limited it. With a power of 240W (referred to as "Extended Power Range" or EPR by USB-IF). The USB C interface will be more suitable for some desktop level devices, especially high-performance game books and desktop monitors.

Of course, USB-IF has also proposed new requirements for charging equipment, stating that "all EPR cables should be clearly identified with EPR cable identification items and need to support 5A 50V current and voltage". Specifically, the current limit of EPR is still up to 5A, but the supported voltage has directly increased from the current 20V to 48V. This change means that the standards for charging cables will also change. The current requirement is to support up to 5A 50V, and products that meet the standards will also be labeled with specialized labels for consumers to distinguish.

Therefore, charging device manufacturers must change their product design to meet the latest requirements.

After adopting the new standard, it is conducive to further unifying the interface configuration of devices such as laptops. Especially for some game book products, the charging power requirements were not met due to the USB C standard interface. So it is often necessary to have a dedicated power supply system interface for a separate device, and the adoption of the new standard USB C will further unify the interfaces of such devices, which is beneficial for reducing the cost of laptop products and also for adopting a more concise body design for such products.

For devices like mobile phones, the new standard also has practical significance. The current demand for charging power in smartphones is increasing, and the strongest charging power in the mobile phone industry has reached 120W. Various mobile phone manufacturers have developed private protocol fast charging to improve the charging power of their phones and solve the current battery life problem that many users criticize.

However, due to the use of proprietary protocols from various companies, there is a compatibility issue. Especially for users with different brand devices, it is not possible to enjoy the highest charging power for each device through a single charger.

The emergence of the 240W USB C interface PD protocol is expected to promote the unification of fast charging standards in the mobile phone industry. In an ideal situation, if a new protocol with a unified standard is adopted, various mobile phone manufacturers will not have to put in a lot of effort to develop their own private protocols, and users can also enjoy a more convenient mobile phone fast charging experience with lower usage costs.

At that time, perhaps we only need to carry one power adapter for daily travel. And this power adapter is suitable for all electronic devices and supports the highest fast charging power of each electronic device. However, there are still many practical application issues with this idea, such as deployment costs, technology trade-offs among terminal manufacturers, and so on. After all, although the existing PD protocol supports 100W of power, who among mobile phone manufacturers has achieved full power support?