Magnetic USB

The use of strong magnets in consumer devices has significantly improved user experience. Apple has been the leading vendor creating this trend - with the MagSafe brand being around for many years.

But interestingly it seems the Chinese vendors created something even better than Apple MagSafe - the 540 degree swivel magnetic connector. The 9-pin (and this is important!) variant is the latest (4th) generation of the original concept, which only supported +5V power over a single pin. The 9-pin variant supports 6 wired lines in a USB-C cable, namely power, data transfer (at USB 2.0 speed) , and power delivery negotiation. The cables have e-markers, so enable up to 5A of charging current (which is 100W at 20V).

I've been using these cables for couple of weeks now and they are just great. Work perfectly charging my 15-inch laptop at 100W, the iPhone/iPad and just about any accessory I have. Not only providing the safety aspect of a magnetic coupling, but the 2-dimensional rotation (360 degrees) / hinge (180 degrees) concept works wonderfully.

One application I really like is connecting my phone to the car head unit. Even with the reversible USB-C connector that always required two hands - one to hold the phone and the other to plug the cable. With the magnetic USB it is just one-handed quick snap.

Plus the USB socket does not wear nor gets dirty or wet inside (as it is plugged by the magnetic tip).

Now the problem here is the interoperability - there are lots of vendors selling such cables / adapters and many simply do not work with each other. I bought a bunch of these cables (the 9-pin ones) from a single vendor but it is unlikely (or even can be dangerous) trying to use one vendor's magnetic tip with another vendor's cable. So be careful out there, but otherwise this system is highly recommended.