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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

#181

Post by sfg »

iSnow wrote: post #82
sfg wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah. Plus, this is such a minor issue. You get a device and the charger for it and that is the end of it. If you buy multiple devices that you carry around with incompatible chargers then you carry (assuming you even need to charge on the road) a couple of cables (or one with multiple connectors). It's about as much of a none issue as you will ever get.

It wasn't a non-issue till the EU stepped in. Every manufacturer had their own plug and some (eg. Nokia) even had more than one, of course they were incompatible. I'm grateful that the EU stepped up here. I feel for Apple's hurt pride here that they should adopt something they didn't invent, but since we are a mixed Android/Apple household, getting rid of Lightning will be nice.

It was always a non-issue.

I live in a mixed Apple and Android house and its a non-issue. If it was an issue, we'd just consolidate our house, but we don't, because -- like you -- we don't find it enough of an issue to care.

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

#182

Post by vasco »

Asmod4n wrote: post #179

There are two ways how to handle this. 1) legislation forces a standard upon every device maker. Because technology advances all the time legislation will have to change the port every ~10 years. This might happen or not, potentially forcing device makers into building obsolete tech into their devices. 2) make a law which forces device makers to hold regular meetings/whatever to decide upon themselves which port they…

I can think of many more ways, one of which being to just let companies decide which port to use without enforced coordination.

I think it's way more likely for new port technology to advance if a OEM can immediately put it in their next product to validate it in the market than waiting for coordination.

If someone designs a new port that is way better, how will they convince other manufacturers at the regular meeting that this should be the new one if it's not even tested in the market?

What you're proposing are two "design by committee" ways of handling this and making it look like there's no other way to handle this or that the status quo isn't better than the proposed changes.

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

#183

Post by zatarc »

maccard wrote: post #83
avianlyric wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did some maths (which maybe some should double check), but for an iPhone with a 12 wh battery. Doing a complete charge cycle everyday would consume an extra 5.6kwh over a year! Far more than I expected.

or $0.70 per year at current energy prices.

Germany: hold my beer! 1.78€ or $2.09

But thats not point here. Everyone is talking about the climate change and then we want to charge millions or billions of phones with ~50% extra power?

Good idea!

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

#184

Post by Asmod4n »

vasco wrote: post #182
Asmod4n wrote: post #179

There are two ways how to handle this. 1) legislation forces a standard upon every device maker. Because technology advances all the time legislation will have to change the port every ~10 years. This might happen or not, potentially forcing device makers into building obsolete tech into their devices. 2) make a law which forces device makers to hold regular meetings/whatever to decide upon themselves which port they…

I can think of many more ways, one of which being to just let companies decide which port to use without enforced coordination. I think it's way more likely for new port technology to advance if a OEM can immediately put it in their next product to validate it in the market than waiting for coordination. If someone designs a new port that is way better, how will they convince other manufacturers at the regular meetin…

I can think of other ways too, but the EU wants to regulate this part of the economy and i believe they will take way too much time to adopt new standards or simply ignore new ones. Making USB-C the port for decades and stopping any advance in technology here.

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

#185

Post by Kuraj »

Aaargh20318 wrote: post #40
Reason077 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That's extremely shortsighted. You never run out of battery before coming home? _On an iPhone_?

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

#187

Post by selfhoster11 »

sfg wrote: post #42
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.

Yeah. Plus, this is such a minor issue. You get a device and the charger for it and that is the end of it. If you buy multiple devices that you carry around with incompatible chargers then you carry (assuming you even need to charge on the road) a couple of cables (or one with multiple connectors). It's about as much of a none issue as you will ever get.

This is not a minor issue.

Sony had a different charger model (with a different voltage down to tens of volts, or with a different connector) for nearly every single device released.

Want more than one power brick (one for the office and one for the home/vacation home)? Spend a lot of money for the convenience, or carry 2 kilos of chargers wherever you go.

Some devices eschewed power supplies altogether and used cradles. Lose the cradle and the device is unusable. Carry the cradle, and it becomes an extra 500g in your everyday carry.

If you were lucky, your device supported a barrel jack or another generic connector, but you had to carry around a universal power supply with adjustable voltage and polarity because they all used different configurations. Get something wrong, and your expensive device is fried.

I remember the early 2000s and the pre-USB charger era. I don't remember it fondly, because it was frankly stupid. Even the worst universal standard is better than no standard at all. And I say this having lived through the era of Micro USB dominance, an era that has killed the charging ports of many of my phones.

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

#188

Post by dexen »

Bad move, an unforced error. This will stifle innovation needlessly, similarly to how US' (previously) mandated single model of sealed beam headlights stifled their automobile headlights innovation for several decades.

Seems some bureaucrat has dusted off the bad old "Everything that can be invented has been invented." quote.

The only possible upside would be manufacturers standardizing on wireless charging in all devices just to avoid this limitation.

For reference: sealed-beam headlamps were introduced in 1939, becoming standard equipment across all American-market vehicles starting in 1940 and remaining the only type allowed for almost four and a half decades, until the 1984 model year. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parabolic_aluminized_reflector...

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

#189

Post by vnlalpg »

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?

Charging via USB is an idiotic idea that saves the manufacturers $2.27370001 and opens all USB security holes:

https://mg.lol/blog/badusb-cables/

But perhaps that is the intention: the government can just switch out your USB charger and then has access to everything that isn't covered by Apple cloud yet.

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

#190

Post by M2Ys4U »

seszett wrote: post #157
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.

> 27 countries need to agree on it No, this has to be voted by the parliament like any law, not approved by each member. > getting this into law has already been in the works for years and years The goal was to not require a law and make manufacturers agree to a standard without legislation, because that makes it easier to evolve. Apple is the only one that wouldn't agree to that, so that means it has to become a law…

>No, this has to be voted by the parliament like any law, not approved by each member.

Almost all EU legislation needs the approval of the Council of the European Union - which comprises representatives from all 27 member states.

The Ordinary Legislative Procedure goes Commission -> Parliament -> Council -> Adoption. If the Council and Parliament don't immediately agree then there's a step in there for negotiation between all three institutions.

Aaargh20318 is probably wrong that all 27 need to agree, though, most things are decided in Council on the basis of Qualified Majority Voting which does not need all 27 to agree.

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