USB Type-C makes connecting devices easier, a single port and cable to support many devices from phones to displays, however not all USB cables are capable of supporting all devices. However two cables that look nearly identical may support different feature sets.

USB Type-C cables can be divided into three groups: charging cables, data cables, and adapter cables.

Charging Cables

USB Type-C charging cables support only USB 2.0 data and USB-C Power Delivery, these are intended to power and charge devices like phones, tablets, and notebook computers, and are limited to USB 2 480Mbps data transfer and lack USB 3 and video capability. These cables are often included with computers that have USB Type-C power supplies ( like Apple Silicon MacBooks, or Chromebooks ), phones, and tablets. They can also be found online and in retail stores and are generally geared toward "charging" or specifically marketed for phones.

Data Cables

USB Type-C data cables can support data rates at or above 5Gbps with four dedicated data paths for USB 3 data or USB-C DisplayPort Alternate Mode video in addition to the USB 2.0 and power delivery capabilities. These full-featured cables are used for connecting high-bandwidth external USB storage drives to computers, USB docking stations, and for connecting displays directly to a computer's USB-C port.

Adapter Cables

USB Type-C adapter cables have a USB Type-C end and a legacy USB connector at the other end. These cables can support either USB 2 or USB 3 data, USB basic power ( 5V but not USB-C Power Delivery ) and do not support USB-C DisplayPort Alternate Mode video. These are most often used to connect a legacy device to a computer's USB-C port, or to connect a modern USB-C device to a legacy USB Standard-A port.

Bandwidth

Most USB Type-C data cables support USB 3 10Gbps, however some cables may be limited to USB 3 5Gbps, especially cables over 1m/3.3ft.

USB4 and Thunderbolt cables use the same USB Type-C connector, but are built to support up to 40Gbps data transfer (80Gbps with the latest Thunderbolt 4 technologies), passive USB4 and Thunderbolt 4 cables are backwards compatible with previous generation USB Type-C hosts and devices with the same limitations as cables from the lowest supported specification.

Optional USB Type-C Features

USB Type-C introduced optional features, the most common are:

USB Type-C DisplayPort Alternate Mode, supported computers can output DisplayPort video data through the USB Type-C port using either two or four of the Type-C high-bandwidth data lines to transmit video to a connected display, graphics adapter, or docking station.  This requires at least a USB Type-C data cable.  Thunderbolt and USB4 can also support an external display, however these technologies do not require dedicated DisplayPort lanes, instead the DisplayPort data is encapsulated in Thunderbolt or USB4 data packets and transmitted to the destination.  If the display or docking station is not a Thunderbolt or USB4 device the port will fall back to USB Type-C DisplayPort Alternate Mode.

USB Power Delivery, this feature allows a device to either accept or output power over USB Type-C.  This can be used to power or charge a connected phone or tablet, or power or charge a computer connected to a USB Type-C power supply or USB Type-C docking station.  USB-PD 3.0 allows for up to 100W (20V 5A) for powering or charging a computer, while the USB 3.1 standard allows for up to 240W (48V 5A) which can power some gaming laptops or even smaller desktop computers, however this is not yet widely available.

Labeling and Identification

The USB specifications do not require cables to have labels or marked specifications.  Intel does mandate labeling for Thunderbolt certified cables.  How to ensure you have the right cable for your device and computer:

1. We recommend keeping the cable with the original device to ensure the device will operate optimally with the host computer.
2. All of our cables sold separately, and many of our products with detachable USB Type-C cables have cable tags, labels on the cable with the specifications and capabilities clearly marked.
3. For unmarked cables, most likely the cable will need to be tested between a computer and device.  For example connecting a USB 3 Type-C external hard drive to a computer and verifying file transfer speed exceeds USB 2.0 480Mbps (42-60MB/s real world testing) to ensure the device is detected correctly.  This can be harder with USB hubs, docking stations or multi-function devices.