USB-C iPhone, anyone? EU finalizes charging standard rule
- Reference: 1664902950
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/10/04/eu_usbc_charging/
- Source link:
With 602 votes in favor, 13 against, and eight abstentions, the EU made the [1]final call to make USB-C the port of record for all phones, tablets, and cameras sold in the European Economic Community from the end of 2024. Laptops will be required to use USB-C beginning in 2026.
Alex Agius Saliba, EU MP for Malta and the rapporteur for the new rule, described it as future-proof because it includes the allowance for setting future charging standards, and that it would benefit everyone from consumers to the environment. "We have waited more than 10 years for these rules, but we can finally leave the current plethora of chargers in the past," Saliba said.
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Along with the aforementioned electronics, Saliba said that a number of different device types had been added to the regulation over the past Parliament session. "We continued to lobby … to extend the scope of this proposal to more products. This was one of the biggest achievements if you look at the initial proposal from the European Commission," Saliba said.
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Per the EU Parliament's announcement, "headphones and headsets, handheld videogame consoles and portable speakers, e-readers, keyboards, mice, portable navigation systems, earbuds," and any other device charged with a cable and drawing up to 100 watts will fall under the rule's scope.
[5]USB-C to hit 80Gbps under updated USB4 v. 2.0 spec
[6]US must adopt USB-C charging standard like EU, senators urge
[7]Tough news for Apple as EU makes USB-C common charging port for most electronic devices
[8]Apple to replace future iPhone Lightning port with USB-C next year, this guy claims
The new rule will also require device manufacturers to include dedicated labels about the charging characteristics of new devices so that consumers would be more easily able to tell if their existing chargers were compatible.
The European Commission's decision in June drew interest from US officials who were keen on a similar standard. Not long after, three Senate Democrats wrote a [9]letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo , asking the department to consider similar regulations.
Perhaps no business has been looked to for a reaction during the fight for standardized chargers as much as Apple, the biggest tech company to hold out against adopting USB-C, which long ago became the norm for Android devices.
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Apple, on the other hand, has been [11]holding out on ditching its Lightning Port, which it said would be bad for consumers by forcing them to trash old chargers, as well as – somehow – bad for innovation.
According to Bloomberg, Apple has already been testing new iPhones equipped with USB-C ports ahead of the EU mandate. Apple already equips its laptops and multiple iPad models with USB-C, making the iPhone one of the only devices in its lineup that could support it, but doesn't. ®
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[1] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20220930IPR41928/long-awaited-common-charger-for-mobile-devices-will-be-a-reality-in-2024
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Yzys-Jo-X5LU7SLp3NKXrAAAAI8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Yzys-Jo-X5LU7SLp3NKXrAAAAI8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Yzys-Jo-X5LU7SLp3NKXrAAAAI8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/02/usb4_v2_80gpbs/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/17/usb_us_senate/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/07/eu_usb_c_common_charger/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/12/apple_lightning_usbc/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/17/usb_us_senate/
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Yzys-Jo-X5LU7SLp3NKXrAAAAI8&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/07/eu_usb_c_common_charger/
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Lint Magnet
I have to say I really don't like USB-C for phones. This maybe a problem only men have, but the way the connector is designed it seems to be perfect for picking up lint from pockets to the point that the cable will not connect properly or becomes loose and no amount of cleaning will get it back right.
This was not a problem with the old USB standard, nor the apple connector
Re: Lint Magnet
I have found the Lightning connect to be a lint magnet. It takes a while, but after a year or so I notice sometimes my phone doesn't start charging right away and I need to reconnect. I've learned that means I need to take the business end of a safety pin into the Lightning connector, and remove what would seem to be an impossibly large amount of lint, then it is good for another year.
I haven't kept anything with a USB-C connector in my pocket on a daily basis like I do my phone so I can't compare the amount of lint each attracts, though I can easily believe it is at least as bad based on USB-C's design with the little 'tongue' in the port.
Re: Lint Magnet
Can't say I've noticed that, but a far bigger problem with Lightning is the arcing on connect/disconnect that slowly ablates the #4 gold-finger contact on the cable, as shown [1]here .
Since I became aware of the root cause, and started forcing myself to connect the Lightning end of the cable first and then the USB-A end of the cable second , thus preventing arcing, I've found my lightning cables last so much longer.
As USB-C doesn't seem to have an analogous issue, the change can't come too soon for me.
[1] https://dvxbjpgfq4l21.cloudfront.net/optimized/2X/f/fbc6b956fa5e7934b0ace7fff2e382bafe6ffe79_2_690x385.png
Re: Lint Magnet
I've never seen that, and I charge my phone by plugging into a connector that is always plugged in.
Re: Lint Magnet
Lightning by name and by nature, etc!
Re: Lint Magnet
I got around the lint problem by putting my phones in cases with port covers on them, TBH. Seeing as I'm clumsy and tend to drop things, it solves multiple problems at the same time. :)
By the time it is standard
Will it already have been replaced by something else? All they have done is set todays standard in stone.
Apple having their own port standard just means the cable is different the bit that changes mains to device level voltage and current is broadly the same.
Re: By the time it is standard
Not in stone:
The application of the laws to new charging technologies should be regularly reviewed.
[1]USB-type C to become EU's common charger by end of 2024
[1] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/society/20220413STO27211/usb-type-c-to-become-eu-s-common-charger-by-end-of-2024
Re: By the time it is standard
Yes but if something better come a long they will not be able to use it until the EU says they can.
Re: By the time it is standard
I think the USB-C cable is going to be around for a while yet, it's survived 4 changes in protocol already.
Another charging protocol is allowed as long as the device also understands USB PD.
Not just iPhones
Also affects AirPods, Beats products, keyboards, and those mice with the charge port in the most dumbest place imaginable. All of them use lightning.
Blown electronics ?
USB-C PD chargers can deliver a much higher voltage than the basic 5 volts that has existed from the start of USB. However if the charger has a fault then it is possible for it to deliver a killing voltage to any USB-C device that is only designed for 5 volts.
If you need to get a USB-C PD charger to power a device that needs more than 10 watts DO NOT get a cheap generic unit - if the charger is used with a low power device and has a fault then the charger can easily burn out that device. Try to never connect a USB-C PD charger to any device that does not require it (eg most phones).
Icon for what happens to a smartphone designed to charge at 5 volts when it is given 20 volts from a badly designed noname USB-C PD charger ====>
Re: Blown electronics ?
I have a Huawei USB-A charger that can deliver 9v to a phone that agrees via a handshake, this isn't a problem unique to USB-C
All Apple usb chargers have USB C outputs
so what is the problem?
Re: All Apple usb chargers have USB C outputs
They think there is e-waste from CABLES, and want Apple want to use the same cables as everyone else.
I look forward to the "UK only" versions
now we've "taken back control" ...
Re: I look forward to the "UK only" versions
Yes, because "taking back control" == "we are now forced to do everything totally differently from the rest of the world, regardless of whether it makes political or economic sense".
Obviously it couldn't mean "we now get to choose the best solution, independent of pressure from the EU".
Grow up, get over it.
oblig
"But they make the best adapters."
Finally
Good move - Lightning was getting rather old and cranky anyway, and USB-C (esp on the USB4 standard) is hugely superior in capability. Now, can we standardise video connectors please? Half my life at work seems to involve users trying to find random weird cables to cope with everything from VGA to DVI, HDMI (micro, mini, standard), mini DP, standard DP, and DP over Thunderbolt...
What about laptops with chunky GPUs and CPUs that need more power than USB C can supply?
Hurrah !