5 reasons you may want to hold off USB Type-C smartphones for now

Well, as pretty much anybody in the Western hemisphere will tell you, fumbling with the microUSB cable, trying to get it in the right way, is incredibly annoying. Especially if it's dark. Or you're drunk. Or sleepy. Or in any way impaired. This is especially true in the context of Apple's Lightning cables, which can be plugged either way. First world problems, sure, but we all value quality of life improvements, and finally ditching that devilish cable is just another reason on many people's lists of arguments to upgrade their device to something newer. You should, however, keep in mind that USB Type-C is probably not what you think it is, and that there are number of reasons you might want to hold off for now, or at least think it through.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty, it's worth pointing out that we have an excellent article outlining the technical standards underlying USB Type-C, and you should definitely read it. Some of the problems we've listed below, however, were outside its scope, so consider this supplementary reading. Here we go!