Guides

How it works, and why.

Short pieces on charging and power, written for somebody deciding and findable by somebody searching.

Cords® Guides poster: Cord or cable? On Mist White, an orange cord with a plug beside a cable cut through, three conductors in one sheath Power · Cord or cable: what is the difference?A cord is a flexible electrical lead with a plug at one or both ends: the one on a lamp, or a charging cord. A cable is insulated conductors laid... Cords® Guides poster: Charging by the bed. On Pale Pink, Cylindric UX1 in line drawing on a bedside table, a short ink cord to this side and a long orange cord to the other Charging · Charging by the bed: one charger for twoOne charger on the bedside table can serve both sides of the bed: two phones, a watch or earbuds, and the lamp. Use cables long enough to reach, charge on... Cords® Guides poster: Strip, lead or multi plug? On Mist White, a power strip in orange, an extension cable and a multi plug on a wall, in line drawing Power · Power strip, extension lead or multi plug: what is the difference?They all add sockets. A power strip, or extension lead, puts several sockets on a cord. An extension cable puts one socket further away. A multi plug, or adaptor, puts... Cords® Guides poster: Christmas lights, safely. On Jet Black, a string of lights as an orange cord hung in a long curve, white bulbs, one plug at its end Power · How to power Christmas lights safelyCheck the lights before they go up, choose LED, add up what shares a socket, give the tree one strip straight from the wall, and switch everything off at night. Cords® Guides poster: Designer power strips. On Sand, Cubical C1, Circular C2 and Squared S1 in line drawing, Circular C2 in orange Power · Designer power strips: what to look forA power strip that stays in sight should look as if it belongs there. Five things decide it: the form and the finish, the cable, how it holds its place,... Cords® Guides poster: USB types explained. On Mist White, four plug faces in one row to the same scale: USB-A, Micro-USB and Lightning in ink line, USB-C in orange with its cord running off the page USB-C · USB types explained: A, C, micro and LightningUSB-A is the flat rectangle on computers and chargers. USB-B, mini-USB and micro-USB sit on devices. USB-C is the slim oval that fits either way up, and the EU's common... Cords® Guides poster: Can you plug an extension lead into another? On Jet Black, Extend E1 as one orange cord, its plug on the left and its socket on the right, one long loop between. One lead, long enough. Not two. Power · Can you plug an extension lead into another?No. Plugging one extension lead or power strip into another, called daisy-chaining, puts everything on one lead and one wall socket, and fire services warn against it. Use one lead... Cords® Guides poster: How to hide cords. On Pale Pink, the underside of a desk as one ink line, Squared S1 held under it, and its braided cord in orange falling in one soft loop off the page Power · How to hide cords at the desk and behind the TVHide the power strip, and most of the cords go with it. Put the strip where the devices are: under the desk, behind the TV stand, on the side of... Cords® Guides poster: Which charger does a MacBook need? Four orange cords on Mist White, each as long as Apple's largest adapter for one MacBook, to scale: MacBook Neo 20 W, MacBook Air up to 70 W, MacBook Pro 14-inch up to 96 W, and MacBook Pro 16-inch 140 W, which runs off the page Charging · Which charger does a MacBook need? And an iPhone?Every MacBook sold today, and every iPhone from iPhone 15, charges over USB-C with USB Power Delivery, so one charger serves both. Apple's MacBook adapters run from 20 W to... Cords® Guides poster: Thunderbolt vs USB-C. Two ports of the same shape, one in black, one in Electric Orange with a lightning bolt beside it USB-C · Thunderbolt vs USB-C: what is the difference?USB-C is the shape of the plug. Thunderbolt is a faster standard that uses the same plug. Every Thunderbolt 3, 4 and 5 port is a USB-C port, but not... Cords® Guides poster: What is fast charging? A charge drawn as one orange cord that climbs fast to about 70 % and then eases Charging · What is fast charging?Fast charging is charging with more power than the basic 5 V of USB. The charger, the cable and the device agree on a higher voltage or current, so the... Cords® Guides poster: What is a GaN charger? GaN set large on Electric Orange Charging · What is a GaN charger?A GaN charger uses gallium nitride, not silicon, for the parts that switch the power. Gallium nitride loses less energy as heat and switches faster, so the charger can be... Cords® Guides poster: What is USB-C Power Delivery? Seven orange bars, one per voltage, from 15 W to 240 W USB-C · What is USB-C Power Delivery?USB Power Delivery, or USB PD, is how a USB-C charger and a device agree on power. They talk first, settle on a voltage and a current, and only then... Cords® Guides poster: How to choose a USB-C charger. Cylindric UX1 in line, with four cords leaving its four ports Charging · How to choose a USB-C chargerStart with the device. Find the watts it needs, then choose a charger that gives them from the port you will use, over a cable rated for them. USB Power... Cords® Guides poster: What is USB-C? A USB-C port drawn face on as one Electric Orange line USB-C · What is USB-C?USB-C is a small, oval connector with 24 pins that fits either way up. It is a shape, not a speed: the same plug can carry anything from a phone's...