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EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

europarl.europa.eu

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Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#81

Post by dogma1138 »

toast0 wrote: post #48
fierarul wrote: post #25

Why stop at mobile phones? Is there a reason laptops need so many different connectors? I am willing to bet many random connectors are just planned obsolescence or a secondary revenue stream for producers. Also, let's take this further. Any reason laptop displays can't internally have a rather standardised connector? We are throwing away perfectly good displays on broken laptops. What if I could buy a $20 adaptor and…

> Any reason laptop displays can't internally have a rather standardised connector? Don't they? I thought LVDS was nearly universal for a long time. Didn't mean you could always swap panels though, resolution and timing needed to be supported, even when the screen physically connected. I've seen boards for sale to add external vga/dvi to old panels, but ultimately did not buy any. I think there may be some movement t…

eDP is quite common these days especially in laptops with elaborate hinges that have 4K screen options.

LVDS requires 40 differential signaling pairs for displaying 4K resolution, eDP requires only 4 and even that can be reduces to 2 if DSC is used or your display adapter and panel support HBR3.

However for LVDS and eDP the physical connectors can be drastically different but in all honesty this has very much to do with the physical design of the laptop rather than some anti consumer conspiracy.

Depending on the hinge mechanism, the wiring length as well as other factors such as does the same cable need also to support power, USB (camera) and audio (microphone) connectivity you get different designs.

Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#82

Post by techylover »

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Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#83

Post by glogla »

yostrovs wrote: post #30
fierarul wrote: post #25

Why stop at mobile phones? Is there a reason laptops need so many different connectors? I am willing to bet many random connectors are just planned obsolescence or a secondary revenue stream for producers. Also, let's take this further. Any reason laptop displays can't internally have a rather standardised connector? We are throwing away perfectly good displays on broken laptops. What if I could buy a $20 adaptor and…

Let's take this further still. Why not mandate identical car tire sizes, having the fuel door in the same spot on every car, all the controls inside the car be universal... How about actually just making one car that embodies every European's needs?

Aren't car controls pretty universal already? At least the pedals, the turn signals, the steering wheel, the "warning lights" button, the seat belt release button, the parking brake whether it is electronic or manual, are pretty much the same in any car. Gears in autos are pretty much the same (PRND) and manual transmissions have the same layout.

Also, to get a closer analogy to the topic of the discussion, the fuel hole in cars is standardized - you have one for gas and one for diesel (which are incompatible on purpose) and that's it. There's no "you need to buy a dongle to fuel your BMW on non-BMW pump".

Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#84

Post by gmueckl »

gpderetta wrote: post #16
jacknews wrote: post #10

Didn't the EU force phone makers to standardize on USB a couple of decades ago? It was an absolute nightmare before that with every brand having completely different connector, voltage etc. I'm not sure how Apple got (and are getting) around this.

I think it was more: "the industry is strongly encouraged to self standardize or else". We are on the "or else" stage now. edit: to be fair, a lot of appliances (not just phones) come with USB chargers these days, so it is not too bad.

The goal should be to have chargers sold separately. Packaging chargers with the devices does nothing to reduce electronics waste.

Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#85

Post by dogma1138 »

fierarul wrote: post #25

Why stop at mobile phones? Is there a reason laptops need so many different connectors? I am willing to bet many random connectors are just planned obsolescence or a secondary revenue stream for producers. Also, let's take this further. Any reason laptop displays can't internally have a rather standardised connector? We are throwing away perfectly good displays on broken laptops. What if I could buy a $20 adaptor and…

Because laptop monitors were traditionally driven through a direct LVDS signal, you can buy an adapter but it would cost much more than $20...

So the question is why would you want a $100> worth of extra logic in a laptop that only a fraction of the population would use, this seems to be even stupid from an environmental perspective since you are increasing e-waste not reducing it.

Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#86

Post by MiroF »

djohnston wrote: post #50
MiroF wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I support the USB-C idea but this latter one is absolutely terrible

More terrible than needing a converter for every pair of wired headphones, and a separate converter for the highly advanced case of wanting to charge my phone while listening to music?

I don't think we should regulate away bluetooth only devices, seems rather unreasonable.

Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#87

Post by shantly »

simongray wrote: post #45
specialist wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love Lightning more than my first born child. I've been using USB-C now for about 3 months. Expected to hate it. It's pretty terrific. I'm sold. But whatever. Rumors are Apple will transition their mobiles to fully wireless charging. I'm totally on board.

Apple has abandoned wireless charging for now (its unreleased AirPower product). But even Apple has started using USB-C ports to charge their laptops and tablets now, so maybe it's not too farfetched to think that a future iPhone could also migrate to USB-C? Pretty sure the only reason lightning still exists is to maintain compatibility with the existing iPhone hardware ecosystem.

> But even Apple has started using USB-C ports to charge their laptops and tablets now

“Even”? I still hadn’t seen a usb-c anything in the wild when Apple switched their MacBooks to it and dropped all other ports.

Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#88

Post by qqii »

qwerty456127 wrote: post #79
fierarul wrote: post #25

Why stop at mobile phones? Is there a reason laptops need so many different connectors? I am willing to bet many random connectors are just planned obsolescence or a secondary revenue stream for producers. Also, let's take this further. Any reason laptop displays can't internally have a rather standardised connector? We are throwing away perfectly good displays on broken laptops. What if I could buy a $20 adaptor and…

IMHO everything that can be safely and reliably powered via a USB cable (of whatever a relevant standard connector type) should be powered that way nowadays (with exception of PoE and other cases where a non-USB power supply actually adds significant value for the consumer). An unpleasant surprise I have recently experienced was a Nintendo Switch refusing to connect to an HDMI TV without being attached to a Nintendo…

DC jacks still have their use, especially in simpler devices. The complexities USB PD specification doesn't make that much sense to impliment in say an electric drill.

Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#89

Post by spoppy »

Renaud wrote: post #32

Apple really dropped the ball on this and the argument they make (thing about all of the old accessories!) is pretty moot for the consumer. I want all phone to standardise on USB-C. No adapter for Apple, no exception. The point is not just about charging: accessory manufacturers have to develop 2 physical versions of their equipment, for Apple devices and for Android devices. This increases development and manufactur…

Since last years iOS 13, with the updates to the Files app, it's no longer impossible to connect an off-the-shelf USB drive to an iPhone and dump pictures to it.

You will need a lightning to usb adaptor, (and probably the powered lightning to usb3 adaptor to work with most drives), but it does pretty much work the way you would expect now.

Presumably if you have a fancy iPad Pro with built-in USB-C then you can also connect a standard usb-C compatible thumbdrive directly to it.

Re: EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

#90

Post by berbec »

agumonkey wrote: post #55
Kuinox wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some brand get the same connectors, and it's been for years, for example, dell has the same big connector for laptops, and a smaller one for ultrabooks. They are switching to usb-c charging, but keep their old connector. Laptop displays have already a standardised connector it just need an LCD controller! https://www.amazon.fr/s?k=LCD+controller So yes, you are throwing perfectly fine laptop screen when you could hav…

I wonder if TV lcd panels also have some kind of standard or if it's completely random

For many, you can ressurecg a dead lcd TV with a HDMI to lvds adapter from eBay. You just need the exact panel and some time on AliExpress
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