The introduction of USB C has made it quite easy to have just one cable for all your needs. A single USB Type C charger is able to charge many devices as long as they have a USB Type C port and in 2021, almost every device has one. Having USB Type C support is a godsend for people that used to have different chargers for different devices.
However, according to the latest revision announced by the USB Implementers Forum, 240W chargers are now possible. Imagine how fast mobile devices will be able to charge once manufacturers find ways to make use of all that juice. The USB Implementers Forum includes almost every major electronics company, including OnePlus Xiaomi, Apple, and Samsung.
The newest revision is called Revision 2.1. The last revision was back in 2019 so it’s nice to see the Type C finally getting some improvements. Now, they’ve released over 400 pages of dry documentation so I won’t be going over them. But we’ve gleaned that revision 2.1 lays the foundation for USB4 devices and the updates to Power Delivery show that 240W charging is coming via the Extended Power Range sub-specification.
240W charging is huge, my own computer has a PSU of 600W. A typical smartphone charger consumes around 15-45W. The current USB Type C chargers can only do 100W, some can do 130W but they’re breaking the Power Delivery specifications to do that. The USB Implementers Forum aims to get Type C ready for wattage higher than 100W. Their plans include the new Extended Power Range cables that will be able to withstand 240W.
This means that the new EPR cables will soon replace the old SPR or Standard Power Range cables. The new cables will e-marked to show that they transfer power above 3 amps.
So you probably should hold off on your plans of buying a new Type C since the current ones in the market are going to be obsolete soon. The new cables are expected to release towards the end of this year. They may delay them to the early months of 2022 but we’ll have to see how the situation evolves.