TTBy Tonetron Engineering Team · Dongguan Taitron Electronic Limited
Why do some USB-C cables only charge and cannot transfer data?
Because they were built with power conductors only, or with just the USB 2.0 pair — the connector looks identical.
Answer: the connector is identical, but the internal build is not. A charge-only cable has no high-speed pairs; a basic data cable has only the USB 2.0 pair.
Build
Power
Data
Charge-only
Up to the rated current
None (or VBUS only)
USB 2.0
Yes
480 Mbps
USB 3.2 / USB4
Yes
5–80 Gbps
This is why "it charges but the drive is not detected" is a cable question before it is a device question.