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Comment by mortenjorck | Hacker News Reader

I think this meme started due to Nintendo (very inadvisedly) adopting a non-standard USB-C implementation for the Switch. It wouldn't have been nearly as bad if they'd used a proprietary connector on top of their modified implementation, but they left the connector unchanged and simply added a "use only official Nintendo chargers" warning which of course no one was going to follow.

This did then, in fact, predictably lead to people frying their Switches, and has only further muddied the waters around the standard (which, to be sure, if you're using chargers and cables from at least minimally reputable manufacturers, will never fry a device under normal circumstances).

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Wasn't that meme only due to one third-party docking station putting 12V on the data lines? I never heard any stories about regular USB-chargers or USB-C cables frying the Switch.

Correct (though I think it was 9 volts). The switch and especially the switch dock do some things wrong but not in a dangerous way.

is it still a problem?? recently bought a switch and only plugged to the official adapter that came with it, but my first thought was “too bulky” so was wondering if I can use my M1 air USB C charger on the go instead.

I've certainly charged my Switch with the charger and cable that came with my 2018 MacBook Pro, and it never caused an issue. Nor is the Switch in question of particularly new vintage (it's closing in on three years old now).

Apparently it's the voltage output of the charger that matters with the Switch, and the damage is done over time rather than with sparks and smoke: https://www.tomsguide.com/news/nintendo-switch-brick-docks

> To oversimplify things quite a bit: The Switch uses a M92T36M Power Delivery (PD) chip, which isn't quite like anything else on the market. The chip can tolerate six volts of power — and that's it. Docks like Nyko's can provide up to 9V of power, meaning it's only a matter of time until the chip burns out.

Note that the PD signal is supposed to be something like 2 volts.

I've charged the switch with the charger that came with my Samsung phone. I have the impression charging the dock with a third party charger may be more dangerous than the device itself.

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