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February 12th, 2021 15:00
U2719DC, USB Type-C/Upstream PD/Data, iPhone conundrum
I just got my hands on the Dell U2719DC mistakenly thinking I could easily connect my iPhone to the USB Type-C for PD Fast Charge and Data transfer to my PC with a single cable until I discovered the USB Type-C acts a replacement upstream for the original USB uplink which only allows for the iPhone to fast charge without having the ability to transfer data to the PC which completely defeated the purpose
Is there anyway through either a hub/splitter or the like which will allow me to have the iPhone connected to the monitor and to my PC with PD/Data combined?
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jphughan
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February 12th, 2021 18:00
@dstow No there isn't. As you've found, the USB-C port is an upstream port meant to establish a link to a host, typically a laptop where the display can provide power, receive video, and establish a USB data path. It is not a downstream port meant to be used with peripherals. And the downstream ports don't support PD. Although even if the USB-C port could be used as a downstream port, then there wouldn't be an upstream port left to connect the display to a host. DisplayPort and HDMI cables do not carry USB data, so if that was the only cable you planned to connect between your system and the display, you wouldn't have had USB connectivity at all.
Dell only has a handful of displays that have USB-C downstream ports, but I'm not sure any of them support 9V PD, which is required for iPhone fast charging. I also don't know of any adapters that would allow you to connect your iPhone to a PD power source and a USB downstream port for data simultaneously.
jphughan
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February 13th, 2021 09:00
@dstow I agree that Dell should have kept a regular (USB-B) upstream port. This omission particularly affects scenarios involving 4K 60 Hz USB-C displays when paired with systems that only support DisplayPort 1.2/HBR2 over USB-C and also only have USB-C ports rather than USB-A ports. The XPS 15 9500 is one such system. In that case, that system can only run 4K 60 Hz over USB-C when data speeds are capped to USB 2.0. If you want USB 3.x, you can of course use a USB-C to DisplayPort cable for video and then use the USB-C upstream port purely for USB 3.x. But if you make that connection with a typical USB-C cable, then the system will "see" that connection as a second display, rather than knowing it's just a separate and unwanted video path to the same display that's already connected through another means. And when a system thinks there are two displays and there aren't, you can end up losing application windows on the "phantom" display. If the system had a USB-A port, a simple USB-C to USB-A cable would solve this problem by preventing video traffic from running over that link -- but the XPS 15 9500 doesn't have a USB-A port. So the only way to deal with this would be to use a USB-C to USB-A port, then use a female USB-A to male USB-C port to connect to the XPS 15. That way you're preventing video and still connecting with USB-C on both ends -- but that of course is a lame hack. For that case, Dell could have at least allowed the displays to be configured to restrict their USB-C inputs to USB data to avoid that, but to my knowledge they haven't. Or as you said, a USB-B port would have worked too.
dstow
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February 13th, 2021 09:00
It's a shame and an oversight on Dell's part to not include the standard USB Upstream they have always had on previous monitors in ADDITION to the USB-C which should be a bonus add-on which would allow people the convenience of connecting their MacBook and give PC user's the ability to transfer data from a USB-C device such as a phone, but alas.
For the moment, I'm just going to use it as a fast charge port, and transfer data from my iPhone over Wi-Fi to my PC which ironically is faster due to Apple's USB 2.0 480Mbps Cap on the lightning port - go figure.