Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

europarl.europa.eu

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

171–180 of 185 posts

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

#171

Post by ksec »

squilliam wrote: post #166
ksec wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>every single laptop on the market that's below 100W should just use USB-C for charging. Not just laptops, but electronics . Recently I had to replace the crappy default PSU for my Synology NAS. It only uses 18W at peak during Read usage with 2HDD. Why do I need a specific power supply for that? Most Router only uses 20W. TV Set Top Box / Recorder. Active Speakers. Electronic Shavers Battery Powered Small Drills or K…

USB-C is overkill for just being a dumb power connector. I can buy average barrel-jacked PSUs for cheaper than a single USB-C PD cable! and then you have you pay for all the expensive USB PD components on the product as well just to support it.

Interesting Question. I will have to look up on the BOM cost difference.

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

#172

Post by ksec »

What if;

Apple introduce USB-C Port, that could only be charged with MFi validated USB-C Cable? Essentially you still have to buy MFi USB-C Cables to charge your iPhone. Would that make your life a little easier?

The whole point of MFi was to get rid of the crappy cables and save guard its users and iPhone. And most no idea how far manufacturers would go just to take short cuts in their products.

Personally I have no problem buying a MFi USB-C Cable. But then most cable manufacture will surely want to support the 1.4 billion Apple ecosystem. And you end up having an Apple Tax on most USB-C cable people will definitely cry foul.

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

#173

Post by techdragon »

oxplot wrote: post #70

Awesome. I've already started doing my own move to all things USB-C by making a custom made board [1] (which is also for sale [2]). I have so far converted 10 devices at home and gotten rid of their bulky bricks. [1]: https://blog.oxplot.com/usb-pd-standalone-sink-controller/ [2]: https://www.tindie.com/products/oxplot/stusb4500-compact-bre...

Heck yes. This is exactly the thing I was looking for to simplify a lot of 10-50W project ideas. Thanks for mentioning (and making) this!

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

#174

Post by villgax »

ksec wrote: post #172

What if; Apple introduce USB-C Port , that could only be charged with MFi validated USB-C Cable? Essentially you still have to buy MFi USB-C Cables to charge your iPhone. Would that make your life a little easier? The whole point of MFi was to get rid of the crappy cables and save guard its users and iPhone. And most no idea how far manufacturers would go just to take short cuts in their products. Personally I have n…

They already have USB-C on the iPad Pro

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

#176

Post by simongray »

shantly wrote: post #87
simongray wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

https://pchiusano.github.io/2014-10-11/defensive-writing.htm...

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

#177

Post by coldtea »

danaris wrote: post #153
coldtea wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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. Not entirely moot. A billion people (1-2 hundreds of millions in Europe) have at least an old accessory with lightning interface). When the old style interface was deprecated many people were angrt (but at least the new one had some benefits - size, reversibility, etc). That sa…

> The "speedy" part of USB-C is Thunderbolt Sadly, it is (to the best of my understanding) not quite that simple. The same physical port and cable that support USB-C can also support Thunderbolt 3. However, both ports and cables can support either just TB3, just USB v3.1, or even older versions of USB, with a dizzying variety of different capabilities and power-delivery levels supported.

Yes, hence the "speedy part". USB-C ports can handle different protocols over the same wires.

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

#179

Post by ksec »

villgax wrote: post #174
ksec wrote: post #172

What if; Apple introduce USB-C Port , that could only be charged with MFi validated USB-C Cable? Essentially you still have to buy MFi USB-C Cables to charge your iPhone. Would that make your life a little easier? The whole point of MFi was to get rid of the crappy cables and save guard its users and iPhone. And most no idea how far manufacturers would go just to take short cuts in their products. Personally I have n…

They already have USB-C on the iPad Pro

The USB-C is used entirely different to the iPhone. And iPad Pro USB-C controller is like 4 times the size of iPhone counterpart.

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

#180

Post by dTal »

microtherion wrote: post #151
zaarn wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The EU luckily didn't put their foot down so phones were allowed to progress from mini-usb over micro-usb to USB-C. It definitely helped a lot (but Apple still kinda ruined it).

Yeah, I was thinking that getting stuck on micro-USB for an years or decades would have been a less than happy outcome. Not quite sure what to think of USB-C yet. Certainly feels more mechanically solid than micro-USB, but subjectively, the plug connection seems a bit slippery. Cables seem to disconnect spontaneously more than they do with e.f. Lightning.

> Yeah, I was thinking that getting stuck on micro-USB for an years or decades would have been a less than happy outcome.

It would have been wonderful.

It seems like every time a connector starts to reach the critical mass of adoption where I actually have a reasonable ecosystem of chargers and cables and devices, they go ahead and change it - usually for the worse. mini-USB was great - I had phones, accessories, the lot with it. Then they changed it for the weaker and more symmetrical looking (but still not symmetrical) micro-USB and there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth - but it was was still simple and functional and is now ubiquitous again. If we had stayed there I could have dealt with it, despite the odd annoyance - for a brief, shining moment, I could charge my phone at my friend's house and vice versa. Now with USB-C it's all gone to shit again:

- I have a new phone that charges over USB-C - but only fast charges with the included adapter, which looks like a regular USB-A wall adapter + A->C plug but actually has some proprietary magic in it. Something about "unusual fast charging standards".

- My laptop came with a USB-C charger but the plug failed after some months, its microscopic contacts losing their spring.

- Needing a new charger because soldering a USB-C connector is quite daunting, I bought an Apple wall charger because it uses a replaceable cable. I discovered later that the cable is apparently nonstandard and incredibly expensive. I bought an unbranded one, at no small cost.

- The unbranded USB-C to USB-C cable failed again after some months. I bought an official Apple cable, to even more considerable expense. That worked, until the port on the laptop died. The laptop sits dead for now.

- Since I now have a 85W USB-C charger lying around, I thought I'd try it on my new phone. But if I plug the Apple adapter into the phone it makes very loud and alarming capacitor noises, especially when full - enough to wake me up in the middle of the night when it gets to 100% (and it takes until the middle of the night, because it doesn't fast charge).

This is a shitshow. Give me back my micro-USB. Yes it's annoying to insert, but at least they last more than a few months, have a single standard, can be soldered, and don't fry devices.

Post reply on HN