There are some practical limits to voltage conversion if you want to keep that high efficiency. Probably most important is that your switching frequency shouldn't be as high as it is in most small devices (because high freq. allows you to use smaller components).
In any case, as dfox mentions, most internal voltage level conversions won't be switched, because it adds complexity. They will be some form of linear regulation s.t. they can move between logic levels. That's different than moving from whatever high voltage is on your 150W USB line into a level that won't fry CMOS circuitry. There's a reason that the wall-->DC plug conversion usually happens in a brick on your power cable. Switched mode will be used as sparingly as possible, such as when you also need AC signals rectified, if you need both buck and boost depending on a battery or something, or if you need to be able to modify the control loop dynamically.
> those microwaves and kettles are getting up to 15A @ 120VRMS continuously, which works out to 1800W
Well that's kind of my point. Even at 1.8kW those devices don't need to draw 20A continuous (or even pulsed, because of the fuse). Basically no matter what you're doing, the copper losses are roughly fixed by the hardware. What you can control are heat dissipation and current levels, and it's a lot more fun to play with Ohm's law than try to fight against thermodynamics.
In any case, as dfox mentions, most internal voltage level conversions won't be switched, because it adds complexity. They will be some form of linear regulation s.t. they can move between logic levels. That's different than moving from whatever high voltage is on your 150W USB line into a level that won't fry CMOS circuitry. There's a reason that the wall-->DC plug conversion usually happens in a brick on your power cable. Switched mode will be used as sparingly as possible, such as when you also need AC signals rectified, if you need both buck and boost depending on a battery or something, or if you need to be able to modify the control loop dynamically.
> those microwaves and kettles are getting up to 15A @ 120VRMS continuously, which works out to 1800W
Well that's kind of my point. Even at 1.8kW those devices don't need to draw 20A continuous (or even pulsed, because of the fuse). Basically no matter what you're doing, the copper losses are roughly fixed by the hardware. What you can control are heat dissipation and current levels, and it's a lot more fun to play with Ohm's law than try to fight against thermodynamics.