Dread Pirate Jeff

Hey Everyone...

While we're all sitting around at home with travel restrictions across the world, I've been spending time hunting for what appears to be a Unicorn. I'm looking for a multi-plug-adapter USB-C cable that I can use as an all-in-one for use on aircraft and when traveling in general. Specifically, I'm trying to find a cable that does the following:

USB-C w/ USB-A adapter on one end
USB-C w/ Micro-USB, USB-C and Lightning on the other end
Capable of handling full USB-C power when using the USB-C ends.

This would allow me to charge my laptop (usb-c to usb-c with a usb-c PD charger), iphone and ipad (usb-c/usb-a to lightning using any USB charger), and Bose headset and Bluetooth adapter (usb-c/usb-a to micro-usb using any USB charger)

On a recent trip to Taiwan, I found one that does USB-C/USB-A to USB-C and micro-USB (Momax One Link 4-in-1 Type-C PD Cable)
But it's missing the Lightning adapter.

And another that's USB-A to USB-C, Micro-USB, and Lightning, but it's missing the USB-C on the other end (and is not rated for full USB-C power anyway, where the Momax one is) (Moshi 3-in-1 Universal Charging Cable)

But none that does it all. I suppose I can also try to find a USB-C to Lighning adapter and some sort of thing to attach it to my Momax cable as well, and that might be the ultimate answer, but I thought it would be fun to hunt at least for the One Cable To Rule Them All.

chx1975

This is not possible. To have USB C PD you can't start with anything else but a C-C cable and the USB C specification explicitly forbids the use of USB C receptacle to legacy USB adapters. https://medium.com/@leung.benson/why...s-f97736bb62be

Loren Pechtel

It could be done. Make a USB C cable and include adapters on both ends for the other possible ends. I haven't seen any that include plain USB and I haven't seen any that have adapters on both ends but there's no reason it should be impossible. The adapters are physically fastened to the cable, they are not electrically part of it unless used.

chx1975

Please read again what I wrote. Those adapters would be against the specification. It's physically possible and I have of course seen many such adapters, afixxed to a cable or loose, but they are all out of spec.

Cerberus

I've seen a few like what you're describing but I would be very surprised if they are to spec for USB-C PD, Lightening, etc. Considering how long some cables (including Apple's!) last due to wear & tear -- I would just carry two instead of hunting for a 'all-in-one' solution so you're not stuck if you lose or break a cable during a trip.

der_saeufer

No reputable manufacturer will make an all-in-one cable or any adapter with a female USB-C. That leaves you with dodgy stuff from no-name companies on Amazon or eBay.

Your use case is pretty similar to mine: a USB-C laptop, a USB-C phone, an iPhone, and some crappy devices that use micro-B as a charging port.

For the stuff you care about, get a good C-C cable and a C-Lightning cable.

Adapters with female C ports are verboten, but they're out there. Realistically you can use a C-micro B adapter to charge devices like headphones, flashlights, whatever. The correct way would be to get a C-micro B cable, but if all you're doing is providing a "dumb" 5V supply to a pair of headphones, it's not that big a deal.

I also use a C-A adapter to plug my phone in in rental cars with only a USB-A port. I'm willing to take the risk with a cheap adapter but a proper A-C cable isn't that expensive or heavy if you want to do it right. The A-C connection has to be wired correctly or your phone can (potentially) overload the charger.