“Benson Leung’s good intentions have finally caught up with him. The Google engineer who launched a crusade against bad USB-C cables in late 2015 just uncovered another sub-standard USB-C cable–and this time it’s cost him a $1,000 laptop.
The Google engineer recently tested Surjtech’s 3M USB 3.1 Type-C to standard Type-A USB 3.0 adapter cable, but those tests didn’t get very far at all. Leung said that as soon as he connected the cable to his Chromebook Pixel, via a small USB power delivery (PD) analyzer, both the PD and his laptop ceased working properly.”
I recently wrote about Leung and his reviews. What I wonder, reading the above, is what the company’s liability is. Clearly if the cable caused the demise of a computer, Leung should be able to get the value of his laptop from them.
But this leads to an even broader question. If the USB-C specification is such that a bad cable can fry a computer, it seems that this is not a cable that should be used. This worries me, since I own a 12″ MacBook. I bought two Apple adapters, but if, in a pinch, I needed another cable to charge my MacBook, I’d be very worried that I might not be able to find one that meets the specifications. I have never had any computer or electronic device where it was possible that a cable sold as being the right type might actually cause damage to it.
Source: Dodgy USB Type-C cable fries vigilante engineer’s $1,000 laptop | Macworld