High-end gaming and content creation laptops chug a lot of power to run demanding tasks. And to ensure a steady flow of charge, they are mostly kept plugged in. And on modern laptops, we get varied proprietary interfaces to USB-C-based power adapters, the latter being more preferable. The reason is simple — more efficiency and also that you can use the same Power Delivery compatible brick to juice up phones, laptops, and anything else in between. But, up till now, the charging speeds from USB-C were capped up to 100W, which was suitable for ultrabooks, not gaming machines. That changes with the new standard.
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Yes, the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) has introduced release 2.1 of the USB-C standard with a 240-watt option named Extended Power Range, or EPR. And as part of the new standard, newly certified USB-C cables are required to come with labels indicating the support for 240W/EPR.
As the announcement notes, this update to the USB PD protocol “extends the applicability of USB PD to a large number of applications where 100W wasn’t adequate”. And finally, according to USB-IF, new devices capable of 240 wattages could hit the market in H2, 2021.
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“With the new capabilities of USB Power Delivery 3.1, we now enable higher power products such as larger notebook PCs to shift from traditional power connectors to USB Type-C. We also anticipate a wider range of product application developers outside of the traditional USB ecosystem to now consider standardizing on USB Type-C with USB PD power their power needs,” said Brad Saunders, USB Promoter Group Chairman.
