fantastic but highly variable and can be problematic as there are many differently wired cables and most do NOT WORK fully!
many cables may only do USB2.0 data transfer speeds and may only support 5V legacy charging and some may not do any data transfer
high charging PD cables generally need a thicker cable but may have poor data transfer speeds
high data transfer speeds generally need a thicker cable but may not have high PD charging rates
to protect batteries, use slower USB-A charging when possible and only do fast charge if you really need it - and don't use it on legacy devices that cannot take high charging rates safely
these are small, flat connectors with 24 pins and compatible with USB 2.x and USB 3.x to give speeds up to 20Gbits/sec (ie. ~2Gb/sec) if Gen 2×2 USB and with eMarker chip, and also compatible with USB 4.x developed in 2019 (Thunderbolt 3 and 4) which allows up to 40Gbits/sec (ie. ~4Gb/sec), while USB4v2 doubles the data transfer again, and as it can be inserted “upside down”, some pins are duplicated
A1 GND, A2 TX1+, A3 TX1-, A4 VBUS, A5 CC1, A6 D+, A7 D-, A8 SBU1, A9 VBUS, A10 RX2+, A11 RX2-, A12 GND
B1 GND, B2 RX1+, B3 RX1-, B4 VBUS, B5 SBU2, B6 D-, B7 D+, B8 CC2, B9 VBUS, B10 TX2+, B11 TX2-, B12 GND
GND, 5V VBUS, D+ and D- data provide compatibility with USB-A 1.0 and onwards
TX1 and RX1 pairs were added to USB 2 to give increased data transfer rates
TX2 and RX2 pairs were later to USB 3 to give further increased data transfer rates
CC1 and CC2 were added in USB-C for PD power and added to detect orientation of connector and negotiate PD role, voltage and current
USB-C allows Dual Role Power (DRP) as it can act as either downstream facing port (DFP) or upstream facing port (UFP) for power delivery (analogous to OTG USB-A for data)
you can no longer use use a simple multimeter to ascertain what is happening but can use devices such as ChargeLab PowerZ KM003C which supports PD 3.1 and provides Windows software to analyze what is going on in the CC data transfers as well as checking for eMarker compliance or you can connect the CC pins to oscilloscope probes
1) on connecting a device to a power bank or charger, the source announces its voltage capabilities, then a request for a voltage and current is requested
if two charging devices are connected, they may have a factory or software defined preference setting of either giver or taker, or, the charge direction may end up being random
most USB hubs or charging docking stations are UNI-DIRECTIONAL for charging!
only cables with E-Marker can do above 60W PD and/or 20Gbit/sec or higher data transfer
SBU1 and SBU2 were added to provide alternate standards for video and audio eg. HDMI
to save cost, some USB-C cables may not connect all pins and some do not have the required two pull down 5 kOhm resistors on female connections (which means no charging will occur if these are not present) creating power charging incompatibilities and may only support 5V legacy mode, while thin cables may only support USB-A data transmission rates and may overheat with higher PD voltages!
this connector should supercede most other if not all USB connectors and unlike previous connectors the cable is reversible
USB-C support PD charging, data transfer, audio, video, Thunderbolt mode, and daisy chaining
the PD also supports Programmable Power Supply (PPS) for dynamic voltage changes - some smartphones use this to optimize charging
some “PD” chargers are fake and only provide legacy 5V charging
some devices are NOT designed for the high PD charging rates and do NOT have protections such as a PD CH224 controller chip to stop you charging them at excessive rates which may cause damage to their lithium ion batteries - these usually have USB-A mini or micro ports but these won't stop you using a USB-C cable with an adapter!