Raspberry Pi 4 Suffers From USB-C Power Flaw
The Raspberry Pi 4 contains a design flaw that prevents it from powering up with electronically marked USB-C cables. The foundation promises a future board revision to fix the missing resistor issue.
The Raspberry Pi 4 features a design flaw in its USB Type-C connector that prevents the device from powering up with certain cables. A missing CC resistor stops sophisticated chargers from properly negotiating power delivery with the tiny computer.
Because of this missing component, the Raspberry Pi 4 does not support electronically marked cables like Apple's USB-C cables or Google's Pixel 3 cables. The board incorrectly identifies these smart cables as audio adapter accessories and simply refuses to turn on, though it does not cause any damage or fire hazard.
The Raspberry Pi Foundation acknowledges the oversight and expects to fix the issue in a future board revision. Until then, users easily bypass the problem by using a basic, non-e-marked USB-C cable or by purchasing the official eight-dollar USB-C power supply directly from the foundation.