Where do corporate worshipers like this come from ?
Smart engineering would be to give people mix of 2 new usb ports and 2 old ones so they can make transition as painless as possible.
That way most people would need only hdmi adapter at most.
Do these "tech" journalists even know what's up? USB-C, in it's current state is a clusterfuck. I'll explain why:
Immediately when the organization behind USB introduced the type-c connector and 3.1, there was confusion. The confusion was in the fact that it was unclear if only USB 3.1 could have the reversable type-c connector, and also in that it was unclear what the capabilities of the connector were. What added even more to the confusion is that USB 3.1 gradually swallowed USB 3.0, and the distinction between 3.0 and 3.1 got even more unclear. The former 3.0 standard became USB 3.1 gen 1, and the former 3.1 standard became USB 3.1 gen 2, giving us the following standards:
Version - Speed - coding - connectors
USB 2.0 - up to 480mbit/s - 8/10bit - type a, b, mini, micro, c
USB 3.1 gen 1 - up to 5Gbit/s - 8/10 bit - type a, b, mini, micro, c
USB 3.1 gen 2 - up tp 10Gbit/s - 128/130bit - type a, b, mini, micro, c
So the difference between 3.1 gen 1 and gen 2 (which manufacturers still call 3.0 and 3.1 because of the confusion it would cause) is the speed, coding and secutry in the way two devices communicate about speed, not the connector. The type-c connector can thus be used for even USB 2.0 ports.
Is that the only confusion? Hell no. There is also an option Power Delivery protocol (PD). If this is implemented, then the chaging capacity can be adjusted and varied according to the power need. Simultaneously with the introduction of USB 3.1 and the introduction of the type-c connecter, a new standard for charching got introduced: power delivery standard, having 5 levels, which prescribe different currents and voltages and have a maximum of 100W. The voltages are being negotiated by two connected devices, and the chip inside the cable must support this profile.
Revision 2 and 3 of the USB Power delivery specification, with voltages above 5V, require a type-c connector. Though a type-c connector, the client and host connumicate though a data channel. The type-c connector is not explusive to USB 3.1 gen 2, and neither is this PD standard. USB 2.0 and 3.0 (3.1 gen 1) can also use this PD standard, but the cable has to be PD-Aware, and the micro-connector can only support up to 60W.
A normal cable can deliver 5V, 25W, via the Batter Charging 1.2 profiles, but these are outside of the PD-spec..
To prevent damage to the host client, or when the cable isn't PD ware, the voltage will be optimized to something safe. The devices will then stay at 5B, 1.5A, good for 7.5W.
What does this all lead to? Buying aftermarket cables is risky. Especially if you want to buy a Type A to C cable, it can destroy your device due to incorrect power draw.
The third revision tot he PD-protocol is published, the difference being that it added authentication, to prevent this damage. But as it stands, it's quite risky to jump over to USB-C ports only, as it gives the impression that it's the all-in one port and that any USB-C cable supports everything.
