The problem had to do with the Pi 4's USB Type-C port, which it uses to receive power. The way that the port was constructed meant that it would not work with high-speed, "e-marked" cables. We tested a wide number of cables to see which would work, but found that most cables did not have any issues.
In short, if you have a USB 3.1 5 or 10 Gbps cable, chances are that it it is "electronically marked" while USB 2.0 cables are just fine. The high-speed cables require two pull down resistors (see resistor color codes) on the Type-C port, because they use two lines to talk to the system. The original Pi 4 had only one resistor so these cables won't work with it. Considering that the Pi 4's USB-C port is only usable for charging, chances are that you wouldn't want to use a high-speed data cable with it anyway.
However, if you just happen to have high-speed USB Type-C cables lying around, you will now be able to use them to power your Raspberry Pi 4, if you have one of the newly-revised units that are selling now.