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A tech enthusiast exploring the insides of a USB-C dongle uncovered a hidden surprise—and it has left internet users divided.
The Reddit user, u/Ristler, shared their taken-apart USB stick online, revealing a secondary, concealed port that wasn't visible from the outside. "So I disassembled my USB-C dongle, and look what's been hiding," the user wrote in the subreddit r/mildly infuriating, where the post quickly went viral with more than 74,000 upvotes.
The original poster confirmed that all of the ports—including the USB-A and HDMI ports—were functional.
USB-C, short for Universal Serial Bus Type-C, is a compact, reversible connector used for both power delivery and high-speed data transfer. PCMag says that it has become the modern standard for smartphones, laptops, and other devices due to its versatility and slim design, allowing for charging, data syncing, and video output from a single port.
But why would a USB-A port be hidden inside a dongle designed for USB-C? Leon Huang, electronics design and manufacturing strategist and CEO of RapidDirect, told Newsweek that the reasoning likely comes down to cost and efficiency.
"What you are observing is the practice of consolidating SKUs for the purpose of curtailing costs," Huang said.
SKU stands for stock keeping unit—a unique identifier used internally by businesses to manage inventory and distinguish between product variations.
Huang added that manufacturers often create one type of internal layout for all versions of a product. That layout typically revolves around a single PCB—short for printed circuit board. This is a flat board that physically supports and connects electronic components using conductive pathways. PCBs are found in almost all electronic devices.
"Instead of making two separate layouts of PCBs—one for single-port dongles and one for multi-port—it is often cheaper to manufacture one fully loaded board and only change the cases to limit access," Huang added.
He said that the hidden USB-A connector is likely present and functional, but not intended to be used in this particular product.
"This approach helps manufacturers to: restrict tooling expenditure through modular design of internal systems, market premium versions with no new designs, [and] streamline inventory management through a 'one-board-fits-all' paradigm," Huang added.

However, he also warned that using a one-size-fits-all internal system can come with trade-offs. "Some gaps might be failing EMI (Electromagnetic Interference) tests, becoming unstable under sustained current load, or other nonuser perceivable design compromises—so, not always a 'conspiracy,' but invariably an engineering one," Huang added.
Cassandra Cummings, a hardware engineer, offered a similar explanation. "Hardware engineers and designers often build systems with additional features for both cost savings and future functionality," she told Newsweek. "I suspect the printed circuit board for this USB C dongle is manufactured in very large volumes and used in multiple versions of USB dongles made by that company.
"That board could be used in dongles that provide just USB C, just USB A, or both to users depending on the case they package. That saves the company money as they can manufacture a larger volume of one circuit board for possibly three variants of their product rather than need to make three versions of the board, each in lower volumes. I would assume that's all that is going on here," Cummings added.
Reddit Reacts
The discovery prompted a flurry of speculation and debate among Reddit users.
"Just like the cars now that have features built in that you have to pay to unlock," one user said.
"It's cheaper to manufacture one product instead of two, then use marketing to distinguish," another agreed.
One commenter recalled a similar experience from decades ago: "This isn't really anything new, one of my teachers (IT) had the experience of calling to get more storage and RAM on their computer in the 80s or 90s where he received instructions on how to make a direct payment, and a few minutes later they gave him the code and instructions on how to unlock the additional storage and RAM that's built in (I'd like to point out this was at his workplace, doing this wasn't common in personal home computers)."
"Tech illiterate people just see a 'free port' at a surface level and already form their black and white opinions, when there is actually quite a bit of nuance involved," another user speculated.
"The manufacturer could have hidden the port for money purposes, or consumer safety legality purposes."
Newsweek reached out to u/Ristler for comment via Reddit. We could not verify the details of the case.
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About the writer
Lydia Patrick is a Newsweek Life and Trends Reporter based in London, focusing on emerging trends, human interest stories, and ... Read more