WORM MOTHERevery single time someone says "USB-C is the worst connector ever" this is the first thing I immediately think of
Jiří Fiala Total Landscaping@AgathaSorceress but you had a chance to know what which cable does. You can't divine that from looking at a USB-C cable. Is it USB-C? Is it Thunderbolt? Does it carry power? How much? Data? Both? At what speed?
LisPi@stooovie @AgathaSorceress You can get most/all of that info from the wire (E-Marker chip) but require specific tooling for it, which is bullshit I think.
The cables are electronically marked and that data can be read-out from a given pin.
A small database would then be needed in the reader to reference expected VDMs if I understand it correctly.
Such marking is required by USB-PD https://usb.org/sites/default/files/D2T2-1%20-%20USB%20Power%20Delivery.pdf
@lispi314 @AgathaSorceress I meant a cursory look :)
@stooovie @AgathaSorceress Yeah, it annoys me a lot how they made that impossible.
If they can't be bothered to standardize some sort of color marking or code you can look-up, they should at least be bundling testers (https://www.chargerlab.com/e-marker-chip-detection-the-new-update-of-power-z-km003c/) with the cables (at no extra cost, too, certainly not an additional >100$ like that thing goes for on Amazon).
E-Marker Test for High-End Thunderbolt 4 and Magsafe 3 Cables | The New Update of POWER-Z KM003C
In March 2022, after the Apple spring event, they launched an unusual cable with E-marker chip - Thunderbolt 4 Pro cable, with a starting price of $129. Compared with the old one, the POWER-Z KM003C tester can accurately detect the E-marker chip info of a lightning cable. This new feature has