

While you can easily plug a Type C cable into from a phone into a laptop, the connector that supplies the power may not work with the laptop itself. Can a phone Type C plug charge a laptop or tablet? But the same may not be true for the power source. If you see a USB Type C port, it means any Type C plug can be thrown in to charge the device. Headphones, speakers, cameras, and monitors are joining the other USB Type C gadgets of laptops, tablets, and phones. Simple, reversible, and able to carry more charge, i t’s a port and plug design used for both USB and Thunderbolt 3, and it’s being seen in lots of devices. While microUSB helped do away with different ports in the phone world outside of the models that Apple sells - at the time this piece was published, Apple was still using the Lightning port for its iPhones and iPads, but had adopted Type C for Macs and the iPad Pro models - Type C USB is clearly taking over.

Not every computer or phone is there yet, mind you, but it’s gradually happening, and Type C USB is more or less the reason why. That means you can forget needing a separate plug for your laptop, tablet, and phone, relying instead on the one that handles all. Universal ports are based around the idea that you won’t need to carry lots of different plugs, and can instead focus on just the one in your life. One of our favourite trends of the past decade is finally having an impact: devices are finally crowding around a universal port standard. Does that mean a phone charger can power a laptop? Type C is becoming the ubiquitous charge port technology it was meant to be, and that means the same plug can be used across devices.
