Despite the promise of USB-C unifying several features such as display, power and data into a single port, there’s an elephant in the room that remained unsolved: not all such ports are created equal. That remains the case even with the new USB4 implementation, and Microsoft wants to solve that.
Solving The USB-C Conundrum
Microsoft quoted that 27% of PCs with the new USB4 port has encountered a “limited functionality notification” – that is, the feature that the device needs from the host PC is not present. Imagine a USB-C port that lacks DisplayPort output capabilities, and you can’t tell exactly such until you dig deep into the laptop’s spec sheet, or found it the hard way when you plugged the cable that fits in just as intended.
To solve that, the company is set to require device makers to implement standard feature sets for all USB Type-C ports present on Windows PCs. “While the USB specifications give PC manufacturers the ability to choose which optional features the port supports, we set out to establish a minimum bar for USB-C port capabilities on PCs,” the company said in its blog post.
Microsoft will enforce this through its new Windows Hardware Compatibility Program (WHCP), essentially making optional features mandatory in Windows PCs. This guarantees USB-C ports on WHCP-compliant systems to feature all major feature sets available, including up to 80Gbps transfer speeds, up to 240W power delivery, and dual 4K60 display outputs per port. Of course, laptops with Thunderbolt 4 and Thunderbolt 5 branding (which also uses the USB-C interface) already have the full capabilities as specified in the standard.
The ultimate goal for Microsoft is to ensure every USB-C port “just works” on any WHCP-compliant Windows PC, so you can charge laptops, plug in displays, transfer high-speed data, and even connect to eGPUs or other Thunderbolt devices with any USB4-capable Type-C port as you see fit. The company also notes that PC manufacturers are “on track to achieve WHCP compliance across most systems in the coming years.”
Pokdepinion: That’s a big step forward – USB-C branding has been confusing and complicated for far too long.
