In response to a discussion on the MacGeekGab.
I found your discussion (MacGeekGab 14 July 2025) on pedantic USB cables sadly unsurprising. I think there’s general consensus that USB-C cables and an assortment of pins are one hot mess that doesn’t solve the problem they were meant to. But that’s not the issue here.
I want to tell you a little story that sent me into genuine rage recently. I am a ham radio operator and I purchased a UGreen USB-C charger for my mobile set-up to power my MacBook and iPhone from my 12-volt Lithium Phosphate battery . It delivers 100 watts of power to the MacBook via USB-C and 20 watts to the iPhone, also via USB-C. It also has a USB-A socket delivering ten watts. It works a dream with my Apple devices, including the iPad.
But I also have two devices in my mobile radio kit with USB-C sockets for charging. One is an antenna tuner and the other is a portable shortwave radio. So, one day, instead of plugging in my Apple devices to the USB-C plugs, I plugged in these radio-related devices. There was no power. I checked the cables, I checked the charger. Everything was fine but no power. I then got a USB-A to USB-C cable and tried that (USB-A on accessory socket adapter and USB-C on the radio equipment). It worked. My heart sank.
It was on this day that I learned the following: SOME USB-C DEVICES ONLY CHARGE FROM POWER SOURCES WITH USB-A PLUGS AND SOCKETS. Like, how? Like, why? Who thought this is OK?
I did some Google-Fu and, yes indeed, it is a ‘thing’. Plugable has a good explanation of the issue and I get it, but I remain outraged at this metre-deep pothole in the USB cable landscape.
PS: This is a good article too: OnLogic
15 July 2025