Microsoft Is Hell-Bent On Solving USB-C Port Confusion With This Simple Fix

Ah, USB-C, the one true port meant to live up to the Universal name, boasting all types of connectivity options, right up until the point that the USB-IF (the entity that defines USB specs) decided to make most of its features optional. And in our world, when it comes to hardware, "optional" too often means "won't exist", because most OEMs are cost-driven. Microsoft may soon come to the rescue, however, thanks to its new WHCP (Windows Hardware Compatibility Program) that introduces hard requirements for USB-C ports on laptops.

While admittedly USB-C is a blessing for enabling one charging method across all mobile devices, it's safe to say the standard is still a giant mess. To start with, the spec names are illogical. Given a specific port, will it support displays? And if so, can it do more than one? And when it fails, is it a problem with the port, the cable, or the monitor? It the kind of stuff that can drive a mad man sane, and that's not even getting into situations where the left port on your laptop supports displays, PCIe, Thunderbolt, while the right one does half of that -- and you won't know until it you need it. Not even technologists like us can tell you unless we've encountered that specific model of laptop before.

Microsoft thankfully is bringing out some big guns to try and help this situation. After the Windows telemetry revealed that a whopping 27% (yes, almost 1 in 3) machines with USB4 ports have triggered at least one of the various notifications regarding limited functionality, Microsoft engineers -- and probably its support department, if we had to guess -- decided this couldn't go on. The company wants to define minimum bars for USB-C ports that need to be cleared.


The requirements for USB-C port compliance with WHCP are clear and logical. Ports with speeds from 5 to 20 Gbps (USB 3) must support at least one display, but they're not asked to do PCIe or Thunderbolt. Meanwhile, 40 to 80 Gbps ports (USB4) must enable two external displays with a minimum of 4K resolution at 60 Hz, and both PCIe and Thunderbolt connectivity are a must.

As for power delivery, every single USB-C port must provide the feature, though the mandated power level varies by generation. Additionally, Microsoft mentions that USB4 ports also have their data connections guarantee low-power states like sleep. As someone who's fought this particular demon, I much appreciate the change.

Besides enumerating those stringent requirements, one of the most interesting bits in Microsoft's blog post is the mention that in order for a USB-C port to gain full WHCP compliance, even the chips driving it need to be USB-IF certified, ensuring the port is actually up to spec and won't give you headaches with unreliable and spurious connections or flaky power delivery. The Redmond software giant provides a full hardware and software test suite for prospective OEMs as well.

However, there's no clear word on what happens to non-compliant implementations -- will they simply lose out on one of Microsoft's certification logos, will there be warning messages when you use them, or will they be blacklisted in the OS entirely? As life and society can attests, any law without teeth can and will easily be ignored.