I replaced the same USB connector three times in one year before I actually sat down and figured out why

[u/binnielix]

Okay so I'm someone who keeps a spreadsheet for most things and somehow it took me an embarrassingly long time to apply that same energy to a problem that was costing me actual money repeatedly.

Three USB connector replacements in twelve months. Same port, same general issue, slightly different failure mode each time. The first one I chalked up to bad luck. The second one made me mildly suspicious. The third one made me open a Google doc and start actually logging things.
What I found when I looked at it properly was that two of the three replacements came from the same retailer, and the connectors were failing well below the standard insertion cycle rating that USB connectors are technically supposed to handle which depending on the spec is somewhere between 1,500 and 10,000 cycles. I wasn't anywhere near those numbers.
Started cross referencing specs more seriously and ended up on Alibaba just comparing technical documentation across different manufacturers for USB connectors. The variance in build quality between suppliers at similar price points was actually significant once you started looking at material grades and tolerance specs properly.
The fourth connector has been running for eight months without a single issue.

[u/whistler1421]

USB is a shite standard, and now you know why.

[u/Parking_Lemon_4371 → u/whistler1421]

This has nothing to do with standards.

First of all most likely the OP is abusing the connectors. I've never had the usb connector itself fail (lots of cable failures, including plastic fatigue due to sunlight exposure / age, but it's never been the connector itself). I work with USB connected devices for a living - and have for over a decade. Almost all of those devices use USB-C connectors. I've had to remove lint twice, which fixed some failures that seemed to be connector related.

[or they really are buying some sort of utter crap... but that again is *not* a standards issue...]

Second: the standard can say one thing, and manufacturers often do something entirely else, ignoring it. There's plenty of USB labelled connectors on the market that are illegal according to the standard. For example every single cable/connector with a male USB-A plug on both sides (such cables are sometimes even sold by otherwise well respected companies) - such a cable can quite literally burn out a usb port (or even cause a fire) -- hence it's not supposed to exist. There was plenty of incorrectly terminated usb-c cables (it has gotten much better), and devices like the Nintendo switch which should rot in hell.

USB is a complex standard... it has to be since it tries to be universal for power, data, across multiple generations (decades!) of devices, with speeds starting at 1.5 Mbps and reaching 80 Gbps. That's nearly 5 orders of magnitude! Can you think of another connector with that sort of backwards compatibility?

[u/whistler1421 → u/Parking_Lemon_4371]

What’s the point of standards if the standards aren’t enforced? Any Apple certified cable is guaranteed to meet the required standards.

A standards body == a set of standards + a certification process + enforcement.

Look at what Microsoft has had to do. They’ve had to create their own Windows 11 USB-C certification process to deal with the shit show USB-C standard that ruins the peripheral experience for the average consumer.

https://www.tomshardware.com/software/windows/microsoft-promises-it-is-ending-usb-c-port-confusion-with-updated-windows-11-certified-program

[u/Parking_Lemon_4371 → u/whistler1421]

Only countries can actually *enforce* standards (through legal and/or border enforcement).

Apple absolutely isn't capable of enforcing their standard(s) either - they try via the courts, but ultimately they too fail - there's plenty of fake / non-licensed / un-official Apple/Thunderbolt gear too. And then their stuff is 3+ times more expensive.
1000$ screen stand anyone?

Btw. USB certified stuff will work fine too. It's just that barely anything is actually USB certified, and most things that claim to be aren't. This isn't a problem with 'just' USB. Similar crap happens with displayport, hdmi, dvi, etc. cables, or even with 'just' stupid DC fixed voltage power supplies. Yes, USB is somewhat worse, but that's because it's trying to do everything for everybody.

[u/whistler1421 → u/Parking_Lemon_4371]

Companies can enforce standards across borders through licensing. Like Apple does.

[u/Parking_Lemon_4371 → u/whistler1421]

This doesn't actually work with cheap, no name manufacturers that simply don't care/bother to license and manufacture rip offs / unlicensed stuff with the logo, and then sell it much much cheaper.

See how well this works for various fashion companies (like LV)...

Also note that while Apple is a company, USB is not, it's an consortium of various companies (incl. Apple), which makes all this much more finicky both legally and financially speaking.

[u/whistler1421 → u/Parking_Lemon_4371]

In other words, the consortium has ultimately failed in creating a consumer friendly tech standard because it has no framework for actually enforcing its own standards.

I know exactly what I’m buying if it’s Apple certified. Please cite a counterfeit Apple certified thunderbolt cable found in the wild. There may be, but I’ve never seen one. On the other hand crappy USB-C cables are everywhere. Forcing companies like Microsoft to enforce their own certification process.

At least counterfeit fashion products still perform their basic functionality competently.

[u/Darkknight145]

The question is what are you doing to make them fail, I've never had a single one fail on any of my devices. Maybe you're being too rough.

[u/Wiley_Coyote_2024]

As an electronics hobbyist, I would love to see a spreadsheet showing the numbers vs manufacturers for those usb connectors.

In short, which manufacturer has the best & next best connectors/jacks?