[ohples]

I have a Home Pod mini in my kitchen which is powered via USB-C. Right now Its just using Apple's 18 w power brick. One of these days I mean to to install on of those mains outlets with built in USB-C ports:

https://www.leviton.com/en/products/residential/usb-wall-out...

It will eliminate a bulky adapter and let me use the plug for things that actually need AC, like my toaster or kettle.

One wonders if it will start becoming common to have all plugs in newer/refab houses have these and they will be okay enough for most people.

This is a little different then what your talking about, but both could be the norm. I imagine the form of what your talking about would be that power strips with a bunch of type - c ports on them (and maybe some AC) replace the power strips we use now.

[mrpippy]

Apparently the HomePod mini does something weird and won't work with that outlet:

https://old.reddit.com/r/UsbCHardware/comments/t4l1dr/levito...

[nordsieck]

> One of these days I mean to to install on of those mains outlets with built in USB-C ports:

I really wonder about those.

I remember reading an article where someone tested a bunch of different power bricks and found that they really vary in quality.

The cheap ones had really bad voltage sag and other problems. And they were an unsafe design (not enough separation between the AC and DC sides).

Personally, I'd trust an anker or apple brick more than whatever lowest bidder device is in those outlets.

[rockostrich]

Leviton is pretty trustworthy when it comes to outlets but I have doubts about a 6A power brick being stuck inside a wall without any cooling.

Edit: LOL these are going to be $90 a pop. Just get one of these instead: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0874GDG93/

[vorpalhex]

And in a year or two when the standard changes again, you don't have a bunch of outdated ports hardwired into your house.

[boltzmann-brain]

These ports are not really "hard wired". They're modules that fit into the mains plug well/niche, just like any other thing that fits in there. They can be changed for anything else once they become outdated, you just shut off your mains, unscrew three wires and put the new thing in. But they probably won't become outdated, because:

1. the USB C plug is here to stay for a longer while

2. with 240W we've already reached power delivery levels that exceed most small appliances you'd want to hook up like that; most larger appliances will take mains. 240W is a practical limit because if you go much above that, the consideration isn't really how much power can your device suck out of the wall, the consideration becomes: if you hold this thing in your hand, will it burn you? You can't escape the physics: 240W power dissipated means 240W power coming out of your device as heat.

3. we've just reached a new, more reliable and more power efficient semiconductor process (GaN) which only happens once every decade or two, so anything made in the next 20 years or so at the least will have roughly the same kind of performance, and anything in the next 50 years or so will probably not exceed it by unacceptable levels

[s3p]

USB C has been around for some time, same with USB A. If you had both ports in your power outlet you'd have been set for nearly 20 years worth of peripheral charging.

[boltzmann-brain]

I don't agree. The past few years have seen steady growth in terms of power delivery. Devices have gone from 5V 0.2A which equates 1W, to 240W. That's a huge leap. Most older chargers are simply insufficient for more modern devices, but can still be used to power more conservative things like small desk fans, led lights, night lights, and the likes. You can repurpose an old wall wart by putting it somewhere else physically where you need it, but with an in-wall power outlet you'd need to replace the whole module every 1-3 years. The jumps in power delivery were drastic at times.

However, now it's a good idea to go with these because it's unlikely power delivery for a lot of things will increase for a long while - see my other comment.

[svnt]

It was ~4.5 W before, wasn’t it? With some off-spec supplies up to 4 to 5 amps or 25 W. This is still a big deal, but only one order of magnitude, not two.