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EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones

xda-developers.com

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Re: EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones

#31

Post by zo1 »

jve wrote: post #11
sph wrote: post #4

Good, though in practice it's not the charger the problem, I use the same USB plug everywhere, it's Apple and their cable. Right now I always need with me a micro USB cable, an USB-C one, and Lightning, because Apple thinks different™. What's Apple reasoning for not abandoning Lightning for USB-C on their phones?

You can get away with 1 cable actually :) That's what I do. Be it car, home - it is convenient to have any port available. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001490533074.html

Is that the exact one you've ordered from them before? Is it reliable, can fast charge, etc? I've found usb cables such a huge hit and miss, even buying from "reputable" places, as they just re-sell cheap chinese knockoffs that don't work.

Re: EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones

#32

Post by avianlyric »

foepys wrote: post #13
mschuster91 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What's Apple reasoning for not abandoning Lightning for USB-C on their phones? People having a lot of legacy MFi stuff. Car docks and stereo systems in particular are expensive to replace.

They didn't see this as a problem when they introduced lightning and USB-C on their macBooks and high-end iPads, though. Instead you were supposed to buy more future electronic waste in form of dongles.

I think the iPad pro etc lives in a different category. They're all high end devices that are bought by people who either like tech, or use it for work. People who want the latest everything, and are happy to change things like cables to make it happen.

The iPhone at this point is just a phone. I suspect most people own them because their good tools for everyday life. Based on an observation of my parents, their friends, and parents of my partner, I would say that most of them don't give a rat-arse about the port on the bottom. They just want the phone to work with the cables they already have. For many of these people an iPhone and iPad Air will be the only computers they own.

I appreciate that my point is a little undermined by the new iPad Air, but I suspect that iPhone will go to wireless only charging, something the iPad can't do, and Apple don't want to go through two transitions in less than 5 years.

Re: EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones

#33

Post by mytailorisrich »

That's marginally useful, but if the aim is indeed to reduce waste then the key measure would be to stop bundling chargers with phones, as also suggested by the article.

What creates waste is that every time people buy a new phone they get a new charger, which they don't need in 99% of cases because they already have a box full of them.

Re: EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones

#34

Post by connor-brooks »

An average consumer probably gets a new phone every 1-2 years. That means 50-100g of junk plastic every year per person.

This seems very small compared to the amount of non-recyclable plastic I get every time I go to the supermarket (Fruit and veg in plastic wrapping).

Are USB cables very resource heavy to make? Is there something that makes them especially bad when compared to other waste?

Re: EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones

#35

Post by Deukhoofd »

Aaargh20318 wrote: post #6
selfhoster11 wrote: post #2

Good. We need this. The USB-C connector is capable of providing laptop-grade power supply, and Apple is the only straggler that I know of.

I think it’s a horrible idea. It means moving to a future, better standard (let’s say, USB-D) is neigh impossible as it would require a change to an EU directive (that is: 27 countries need to agree on it). Just getting this into law has already been in the works for years and years, if the EU had worked a bit faster we would have been stuck with micro USB-B, which would have been unfortunate.

Depends on the legislation, so lets wait on that.

Re: EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones

#37

Post by jsudi »

selfhoster11 wrote: post #29
Aaargh20318 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it’s a horrible idea. It means moving to a future, better standard (let’s say, USB-D) is neigh impossible as it would require a change to an EU directive (that is: 27 countries need to agree on it). Just getting this into law has already been in the works for years and years, if the EU had worked a bit faster we would have been stuck with micro USB-B, which would have been unfortunate.

We're stuck with USB A on desktops since the late 90s. It hasn't harmed us. The connector is non-reversible, but it's robust with many, many disconnect-connect cycles and can support higher speeds with USB 3.2. I still use USB chargers made 10 years ago. They work fine. I think it's fine to be stuck on a "good enough" standard, if this results in less e-waste and less need to upgrade all accessories simply because th…

> I think it's fine to be stuck on a "good enough" standard, if this results in less e-waste and less need to upgrade all accessories simply because the dominant connection port changed.

That’s your opinion. I disagree and I certainly don’t want to see it written into law.

Re: EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones

#38

Post by lagadu »

ramboldio wrote: post #30

Not sure, whether legislating a particular standard might backfire in the long-term? I imagine that there was a time when it made sense to force everybody to have a VGA port..

What you do to avoid that is legislate it for a limited time (lets say ~5-10 years) and then not renew it. This forces everyone to move to the standard in the medium term and doesn't impose long-term restrictions to new, better formats coming along.

Re: EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones

#39

Post by boudin »

Aaargh20318 wrote: post #6
selfhoster11 wrote: post #2

Good. We need this. The USB-C connector is capable of providing laptop-grade power supply, and Apple is the only straggler that I know of.

I think it’s a horrible idea. It means moving to a future, better standard (let’s say, USB-D) is neigh impossible as it would require a change to an EU directive (that is: 27 countries need to agree on it). Just getting this into law has already been in the works for years and years, if the EU had worked a bit faster we would have been stuck with micro USB-B, which would have been unfortunate.

What you say is not necessarily true, but I couldn't find anything that talks about how the connector that is mandated is chosen.

It will be interesting to know how the connector is agreed upon and by whom.

Re: EU plans to force OEMs to use a common charger for all phones

#40

Post by Aaargh20318 »

Reason077 wrote: post #28
Aaargh20318 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it’s more likely that Apple will drop the port completely and move to a wireless-charger only approach.

That doesn’t really solve the problem, though. In fact it makes it worse if you have to curry around a wireless charger that is more bulky than the cable it replaces!

The proposed law is not about convenience for the user but about reducing waste.

Also, you don’t need to carry around a wireless charger, you leave the charger at home and charge your phone overnight.

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