You could, but Volta makes zero mention of any protection that I can find.
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Pretty sure you are required to have at least usb2 by the spec (guess even the usb-if got annoyed at power only cables), assuming you are still keen on the usb certification, not violating that may b beneficial.
Though not exposing the pins would indeed be better for this application.
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I don’t believe it’s even possible for these types of magnetic usb adapters to get USB-IF certified.
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I would wait until the actual product is released. For 1, if they are working WITH framework on this, you’d think framework would enforce certain requirements.
Also, if they are developing an expansion card, considering the space in the cards, I’d imagine they would utilize that to put a proper circuit board and protections in it.
Not at all saying this will be the case, just possible.
On a different note, is anyone able to design PCBs? May not be cheap, but I’m wording if the community can come up with something that works, then we just 3D print the expansion card and order the PCB online
Guess I’ll have to show this Reddit post again
https://www.reddit.com/r/UsbCHardware/s/DpuA2xx5HU
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@Shenananguy; I would definitely be interested in a custom PCB Board, (not a designer myself, but would buy one to add to the volume).
Adding my two cents, I would prefer if the model was designed to use the LEMI style 24 pin connector base (wider magnet than some of the others, with the small stepped insert I think is the best compromise to avoid frying the board with a solid stable connection) - as a note, I’ve been using both the straight and right angle connector to connect my framework to an Aorus eGPU and both have worked flawlessly so far.
I would be interested even if there was no circuit protection, basically if someone could design the cablecreations adapter that works at thunderbolt speeds, I’d happily order one and test run it for the group.
That’s what I was thinking too. I saw the ones with different level pins, a couple on ebay (which idk if I would trust) have the pins inset and somewhat protected. If that was used on a custom PCB with protections in place.
I don’t have a computer science degree, so I don’t even know how possible this is, and I get it wouldn’t be 100% safe but it would add more peace of mind
To be pedantic (can’t help myself), more Electrical Engineering, maybe Computer Engineering. Computer Science is more programming/software/algorithms. Not the hardware/circuits themselves.
You can definitely know both, but there is a real distinction that can be made.
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Lmao, that’s fair. I downloaded a PCB program and tried looking at it… I had no idea what was going on
From what I understand, yes. Volta is developing special firmware/software along with a special “smartchip” to regulate current and recreate something along the lines of Apple’s MagSafe for this.
From what I understand, this is coming, and should be available at launch. Clarification: Volta will likely be providing full cable specs and certifications, but as the cables cannot be USB-IF certified.
This is correct.
I want to reiterate this again: this is NOT a confirmed product, nor will Framework comment on it. I’ve reached out several times (including to support and Nirav), and have received no information. From my understanding, this is direct a collaboration with Framework or as my source has put it, the “Framework Computer Inc and Google Chromebook which began in 2021” and “These cards are expected to be officially launched on Framework’s website soon”. None of this information is confirmed by Framework, and can change at any time. Please take this with a grain of salt, and do not get overexcited about this product. We can hope, but that’s about it.
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Good clarification, thank you for that.
Honestly speaking, as awesome as a magsafe-esque expansion card would be awesome, not getting one isn’t going to make me enjoy/like the framework less. These laptops are awesome and game changing.
Plus, as the design kicks off and more people start buying into framework, we could potentially have so many expansion cards we don’t know where to put them
sounds like a good problem to have 
If this Volta card can prove itself, preventing the damage magnetic connectors have been notorious for, it will certainly be a great feature for Framework to have.
I do have doubts that Volta really has the skills to completely eliminate the potential for damage. Maybe they got help. Only time will tell, with no reports of malfunctioning ports. If Framework is really willing to sell it in their store, and provide warranty replacement if any motherboard is damaged by it, that will be great.
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Putting a condom (or a crowbar) and a bunch of esd diodes on the cc pins and making sure the data lines are not connected or similarly protected would probably get you most of the way there relatively easily.
But he says the Volta card will have USB4 data.
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Oh boy, that’s a lot of metaphorical condoms XD
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I’m very doubtful that even if this is released, it will have any handshake capabilities to prevent damage. I’m even more confident that it will have at most 480 mb/s like their other cables/dongles if it supports data at all.
So, I’m back to looking for a USB4 or at leas thunderbolt 3 capable option, even without protection.
Like I said, I’ve tested the LEMI style connectors, which satisfy the magnetic piece with Thunderbolt speeds, but the “extender” piece. I have tried the HIEbee extender, which despite transmitting data (I did not fully test speed) does not support thunderbolt.
I have tried other extenders that do work (example: Amazon.com) however, this one is not long enough to allow the magnetic connector. If anyone has one of the cable creations adapters, it says it only supports USB 3.1, but if someone could test it might support thunderbolt and just not be certified for it, I’m not sure.
If there are no out of the box extenders that work and are long enough, the solution would probably be a PCB board. I’ll put out that request again if anyone would be willing to design one. I believe it would essentially just be a 24 pin pass through that is the ~35mm long (end of male port to end of female port), but I am not familiar if there are any additional shielding requirements that are needed. Considering the small extenders you can get for under 5 dollars and their just not long enough, I would not assume anything special would be needed but I’m not sure and would really appreciate an EE’s thoughts if there are any with experience here.
This is very likely, although not confirmed. Unsure of if it will support full 240w, but will at bare minimum but 100w USB2.
The 48V there you’d likely add another set of issues to the plate, the disconnection handling probably needs additional circuitry to prevent arcs which could pretty quickly destroy the contacts.
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