USB ports look ridiculous anyway, flange or not, there is a reason why Apple hates them and keeps reducing their number.
> It makes it harder to insert things into them
Not sure why he says that, I never had a problem because of the flange. If anything I would say it makes inserting easier, since it "guides" the plug into, instead of it banging against a sharp edge. My computer case has them and I can't remember any frustration.
Also, as a meta rule, if everybody does something, maybe it's not that stupid after all. It might just be that these plugs are cheaper.
To hide the flange you need to make the hole really tight. That sounds like something which would make plugging the cable harder. Looking at USB and HDMI ports around me, all have a bit of space around the connector. But I notice that HDMI plugs don't have the flange.
I notice a lot of loose USB-C ports. Somehow, my MacBook charger won't stay in my Pixel phone, yet my Pixel charger won't stay in my MacBook either. I have another USB-C cord for a portable charger that won't stay in any device I own.
This is usually due to dust/gunk in the port or cable. My Pixel slowly lost its grip until I scraped the crud out. I used the plastic toothpick from my penknife, it's an ideal size (and non conductive).
This is still poor design. I never had this issue with the previous Micro-B ports, presumably because of the tiny hooks on one side.
Does anyone know why those were ditched? If you want to keep it symmetrical you could put them on the inside of the port instead and just have tiny notches on both sides of the plug.
Or better yet, design the plug so that the process of plugging/unplugging helps clear out the dust, instead of just compacting it in. Perhaps the plug could have holes in the base so that dust pushed down the centre has a way out.
You know these plastic(outside)/metal(inside) cable ties that are twisted around cables of any newly bought devices? Strip off the plastic; the metal is perfectly sized for cleaning USB-C ports. Plus it's just hard enough to push out the fluff, but soft enough that it probably won't damage the port even if you make contact. And theyre super available.
Paper is another good option: Tear off a narrow strip from something like a post-it and then fold it over to make a thin strip of 2-4 thicknesses, and run your improvised pick around the recessed edges of the USB port.
Benefits:
It's (A) just abrasive enough to get gunk out of the bottom (B) without being strong enough to bend anything important, (C) you can easily snip off the "tip" to expose a new working-surface, and (D) it's unlikely to shred or break-apart into anything you can't easily remove or blow out.
Not sure how it makes it harder to insert. If anything, seems it would be easier since it prevents the port from sliding around under the case opening and misaligning.
I would assume that due to the flanges not being connected at the corners, there's probably a margin of flex incorporated into the design to accommodate inconsistent plug design. Insert a plug slightly too large (maybe from manufacturing tolerances), and each "wall" of the port is intended to flex outwards ever so slightly.
Can somebody help me understand the issue here? Why is that "harder" to insert into the connector? USB-A extension cables have their female connectors freely exposed and they are not "hard" to use...
