USB-C

What it is, physically

A small oval socket that takes a reversible plug. The shape is specified by the USB Implementers Forum in the USB Type-C Cable and Connector Specification. Every USB-C socket on every device in this catalog is the same shape as every other one.

What can be inside the same shell

• A port that charges the machine and does nothing else.
• A port that moves data at one of several published speeds.
• A port that also carries a picture, through DisplayPort Alt Mode, which VESA describes as an Alternate Mode functional extension of the USB Type-C interface.
• A port that implements USB4, which the USB Implementers Forum publishes as its own specification and which uses this same connector.
• On some devices, a socket used only to recharge the device itself — a keyboard in this catalog states exactly that.

Who decides, and where it is published

The USB Implementers Forum publishes the connector specification. VESA publishes DisplayPort and the alternate mode that carries it over this connector. They are two bodies and two documents, which is the root of the confusion.

The 5 screens whose listings name it

Reading a listing that uses this word

When a screen listing names a USB-C input, it has told you the socket exists. When a laptop listing names USB-C — and none in this catalog do — it would still not have told you which of the capabilities above that particular port implements. The word to look for is not USB-C. It is a statement about video, in the manufacturer’s own specification, for the specific port.