The original USB 1.0 spec in the 1990s supplied about 2.5W — enough for basic peripherals. USB Power Delivery, introduced in 2012 and expanded through several revisions, now supports up to 240W under PD 3.1’s Extended Power Range, enough for high-performance laptops.
Understanding this progression helps explain why older accessories sometimes feel like a downgrade even when they were considered premium at release — the baseline has moved substantially in a short time.