Today’s USB-C charging can support up to 100 watts. But that’s not enough for all gaming laptops and other power-hungry devices. There seems to be real need for more USB power because some manufacturers have sold off-spec 130W USB-C adapters. The new standard capacity of 240 watts is enough to run larger monitors, printers, gaming laptops and other devices.
The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) has just announced that it’s more than doubling the amount of power you can send over a USB-C cable from 100W to 240 watts.
https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2021/5/25/22453936/usb-c-power-delivery-extended-power-range-epr
The USB-C Release 2.1 spec more than doubles the power output of the all-in-one cable.
The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) has just announced that it’s more than doubling the amount of power you can send over a USB-C cable to 240 watts. This is something that the USB-IF is calling “Extended Power Range” or EPR for short.
This means you’ll eventually be able to plug in the same kind of multipurpose USB-C cable you currently use on lightweight laptops, tablets, and phones to charge all but the beefiest gaming laptops (which will still need an ugly barrel jack and a proprietary power brick to charge).
You’ll need new USB-C chargers and cables to take advantage of the new spec, of course. A cable will need to support up to 5A and 50V to be compliant.
This gives the hint that the extra power capability is made possible by increasing the supplt voltage. 5A*48V=240W. In addition to higher voltage I expect some extension to the USB power delivery device handshaking specifications to reliably tell when this higher voltage is appropriate, because sending 48V to an older device expecting 20V 5A maximum would most propably fry it.
Stephen Shankland / CNET:
USB standards body unveils its USB-C 2.1 revision, which supports power up to 240W, up from 100W currently, aimed at devices like 4K displays and gaming laptops — An upgrade to the USB-C standard will accommodate levels of up to 240 watts, an improvement that could let you plug power-hungry devices …
https://www.cnet.com/news/usb-c-upgrade-delivers-a-whopping-240w-for-gaming-laptops-and-other-power-hungry-devices/
An upgrade to the USB-C standard will accommodate levels of up to 240 watts, an improvement that could let you plug power-hungry devices like gaming laptops, 4K monitors and printers into the universal port.
The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), the industry group that develops the technology, revealed the new power levels in the version 2.1 update to its USB Type-C specification on Tuesday. The new 240-watt option is called Extended Power Range, or EPR.
Cables supporting 240 watts will have additional requirements to accommodate the new levels. And USB-IF will require the cables to bear specific icons “so that end users will be able to confirm visually that the cable supports up to…240W,” USB-IF said in the specification document.
USB Type-C® Cable and Connector Specification Revision 2.1
https://usb.org/document-library/usb-type-cr-cable-and-connector-specification-revision-21
The USB-C specification isn’t the only one covering how USB ports and cables work. Today’s mainstream USB 3.2 and brand-new USB 4 govern how data is sent over cables. But USB 4 is rare, just arriving now in newer laptops.
104 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2024/12/13/yli-100-wattia-usb-c-liitannasta/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2025/01/10/bit-banging-the-usb-pd-protocol/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/17129-dell-hylkaeae-piin-latureissaan
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why USB-C Splitters Can Cause Magic Smoke Release
https://hackaday.com/2025/04/07/why-usb-c-splitters-can-cause-magic-smoke-release/
Using USB for powering devices is wonderful, as it frees us from a tangle of incompatible barrel & TRS connectors, not to mention a veritable gaggle of proprietary power connectors. The unfortunate side-effect of this is that the obvious thing to do with power connectors is to introduce splitters, which can backfire horribly, especially since USB-C and USB Power Delivery (USB-PD) were introduced. The [Quiescent Current] channel on YouTube recently went over the ways in which these handy gadgets can literally turn your USB-powered devices into a smoldering pile of ashes.
Much like Qualcomm’s Quick Charge protocols, USB-PD negotiates higher voltages with the power supply, after which this same voltage will be provided to any device that’s tapped into the power supply lines of the USB connector. Since USB-C has now also taken over duties like analog audio jacks, this has increased the demand for splitters, but these introduce many risks.
Why USB-C multiport adapters can be dangerous
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvnoz5uaTwE
USB-C splitters or extensions can be convenient, but may also break your devices if used in the wrong combination. This can be annoying, but worst case dangerous if something gets hot or catches fire.
Comments:
Completely correct that they CAN be dangerous. They can also not be dangerous. I have a few of these adapters, that serves the same purpose as yours. Except the ones I have are a bit bigger, because they each have a built-in USB hub, that provides USB 3.0 or 3.1 speed on the secondary port. The primary port is the passthrough port for charging (up to 20V/100W on mine). The secondary port is a regular USB-C or USB-A port with just 5V output, because it goes through a voltage regulator either inside the USB hub chip or a separate one. I have one connected to my laptop at home, which provides power to my laptop, but the other USB port is connected to an USB-C 2.5G ethernet dongle.