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

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

xda-developers.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

251–260 of 751 posts

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

#251

Post by owisd »

dexen wrote: post #188

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 de…

Not really comparable. Apple could both innovate and comply by having two charging ports, one EU approved and one Lightning. Come to think of it, I would love a phone like that — maybe government intervention can force innovation.

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

#252

Post by sokoloff »

Scoundreller wrote: post #237
sgtfrankieboy wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Besides, what's the point of a thinner phone when you got a huge bump for the camera's. Rather it be a bit thicker so that there is more room for battery. I personally really wish for a flag ship phone like the Galaxy S21 Ultra that doesn't have such a huge camera array.

That and the more fragile the device, the bigger the case you (should) have anyway.

I’m always amused at people who upgrade to the latest phone regularly and then keep it in a bulky case. Around iPhone 5, I switched to buying 1-year old used phones about every 2-3 years and enjoying them without a case.

Only non-minor damage I’ve suffered is I broke the volume down button (the spring behind it, really) on my Xs Max. Minor scratches I don’t care about. I’m pretty amazed at how durable the phones actually are and, if I break one now, it’s probably an $85 screen and an hour of my time or worst case a $400-600 replacement phone.

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

#253

Post by Aaargh20318 »

lagadu wrote: post #112
Aaargh20318 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

So you never travel? I travel a significant amount of times, sometimes for work, mostly for leisure. Nowadays I carry one single 65w USB-C charger, it charges: my work laptop (if travelling for work), my personal laptop, my phone, my book, my NC headphones for the airplane, my TWS earbuds. I only own two chargeable items that it doesn't charge: my watch (which I charge with the reverse wireless charging my phone does…

> So you never travel?

No. Why would I ?

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

#254

Post by cesarb »

mrsuprawsm wrote: post #71
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?

The lightning connector is a more physically robust one than USB-C. The male lightning connector is a single flat piece; the female connector is a hole with the contacts on the top + bottom of the port. Compare to USB-C, which has an exposed "tab" in the middle of the female connector, and the male connector has a matching "hole" in the middle. This makes USB-C more vulnerable to e.g. dust collecting, and damage of t…

> The male lightning connector is a single flat piece; the female connector is a hole with the contacts on the top + bottom of the port.

Which means that the part which wears over time (the springs) is on the port instead of the cable.

On USB-C, the springs are all in the cable; the port is a single flat piece (the tab in the middle) surrounded by a metallic shield.

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

#255

Post by datavirtue »

This is good as it will end up an example of what a government product looks like. Soon outdated and inadequate, and the only thing available--infinite wisdom, stifling innovation.

Sounds like a good idea, but probably not. However, this also looks like a "problem" they feel capable of solving, so that makes the idea more attractive when their world is littered with real, difficult problems yet unaddressed.

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

#256

Post by Aaargh20318 »

Kuraj wrote: post #185
Aaargh20318 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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_?

No, that has never happened to me. How much time do you spend away from home that this becomes a problem ?

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

#257

Post by mclightning »

Aerroon wrote: post #248
mclightning wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know what I should expect if I am paying a cable $5 vs $40. Just because tip of the cable is looking like USB-C, you shouldn't expect it to support HDMI etc. Most people are not looking for full set of USB-C features. Most people are just looking to charge their device. I don't remember last time I wired up my phone to my computer for any data transfer, and I am a nerd who reads HN. Think about the average folk. If…

Even charging from cable to cable is completely different. But I do not believe at all that regular people do not ever have the need to connect their device to a computer. They might not most of the time , but that one time they do they'll be kicking themselves over it. Also, $40 per cable is completely and utterly ridiculous. That's 5-8% of monthly salary of Bulgaria (EU country) for a short cable .

>> Also, $40 per cable is completely and utterly ridiculous. That's 5-8% of monthly salary of Bulgaria (EU country) for a short cable.

That's why you don't buy a $40 usb cable for charging. You don't need all the pins in usb-c standard for all purposes. You can have a few USB-C cables for various purposes. Fully-implemented ones are easy to identify, just by their weight difference really.

>> Even charging from cable to cable is completely different. But I do not believe at all that regular people do not ever have the need to connect their device to a computer. They might not most of the time, but that one time they do they'll be kicking themselves over it.

I wouldn't say they will be kicking themselves over it. If they really cared and knew about transfer speeds of different cables, they would be one to invest in a better cable ahead of time. If they didn't know about those details, they will have no surprises to begin with. Because it works on par with USB2.0 at least.

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

#258

Post by Aaargh20318 »

lagadu wrote: post #102
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.

And miss out on selling all those accessories? Doubtful.

You old accessories no longer work, so they can sell you all new MagSafe ones.

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

#259

Post by IvanK_net »

hungryforcodes wrote: post #131
IvanK_net wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not about what connector is better. It is about everyone using the same connector. I believe if Apple allowed others to use their connector for free, they could "beat" USBs and become the only existing standard.

If we're only allowed to use one connector, it had better be the "better one".

If the better one is expensive (e.g. the creator asks for license fees), we should choose the cheaper one. Just like the VHS has beaten the Betamax.

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

#260

Post by whizzter »

dexen wrote: post #217
xorcist wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I use the same USB plug everywhere, That's because of EU regulation. All the big manufacturers had their own connector before that, micro-USB started to look like a common connector among the low end manufacturers. This is the next step for that regulation and has been in the cards for some time.

>>I use the same USB plug everywhere, >That's because of EU regulation. Patently untrue: the Micro USB has won over proprietary connectors before the EU regulation, thanks to being cheaper than ever-changing charging & data cables that used to be the norm. That in turn was possible through large volume, and also through well designed standard; it was the third iteration of the plug - after original full sized A/B, an…

There isn't any regulation because the THREATS from the EU to impose it from above was enough for everyone but Apple to fall in line, and that's damn lucky because otherwise we might've not seen USB-C emerge in phones as well as it's done now. (Do we need a new standard in the future? Hopefully that can happen without clunky regulatory processes)

Personally I like my lighting cables and I do hope there'll be a grandfather clause but Apples behaviour(logical for them) has put us in an uncomfortable seat tbh.

Post reply on HN