Does an iPad or high power Android phone *need* a USB 3.0 extension for full power charging?

Avraham Bernholz wrote

I did that with my Logitech keyboard and mouse charging cable.

I used extension cables I got of ebay for peanuts.

Should be fine, the current is signalled by the resistance between the power pins and the data pins with a charging cable and the extension shouldn?t make any difference to that.

It doesn?t, USB 2.0 and 3.0 is an entirely separate issue to how Samsungs and Apples indicate what current they want.

Shouldn?t matter at all, USB 2.0 extensions should be fine as long as there is enough metal in the wire so that you don?t see a lot of voltage drop in the extension cable. And that isnt determined by the USB 2.0 and 3.0 spec anyway, its silent on the gauge of wire used.

The USB 3 standard says nothing about power capacity in excess of the long established 0.9A 5V requirement.

USB 3.1 is the standard which allows for 'more power'.

You only need a USB 3.1 cable if the charger can produce up to 5 Amps at either 12 Volts or 20 Volts (the two new higher power options permitted by the USB 3.1 standard) *and* the thing you want to charge is capable of demanding such higher power (so, only if your device and charger both claim to be up to the USB 3.1 standard).

A USB 3 cable might not suffice in those circumstances.

Plugging a USB 3 or USB 3.1 cable into a basic 1 Amp, 5 Volt, USB charger won't make it any 'quicker' or 'more powerful'. Likewise, a 2A

Whiskers wrote, on Thu, 21 Aug 2014 00:05:19 +0100:

Do I understand this to mean:

1. If I have a 12V/20V/5A wall charger USB 3.1 wall charger,
2. And, if my smart device is a USB 3.1 device,
3. Then (and only then), do I need a USB 3.1 cable
4. Otherwise, the USB 2.0 extension cable will work just fine.

Is that correct?

Likewise, since I have an iPad with Lightning cable, the USB 2.0 extension cable will work just fine with that Lightning cable.

Is that also correct?

It also depends on voltage supply at outlet - if below 120v then size of wire may reduce voltage below what the device requires or cause very slow charging even when device is off.

Pray tell! what has 120 volts got to do with the charger voltage? Most chargers and wall warts these days are SMPS and regulate from around 90 to 250 volts.

Yes.

Normally, but not necessarily always, particularly if its a poor quality USB 2.0 extension cable that has very thin wires that drop a significant voltage when the ipad is getting the maximum current it ever takes.

Rod talks bollocks, so you and he should get along just fine.