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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

#531

Post by etskinner »

eemil wrote: post #432

I don't get it. Apple went all-in with USB-C on their computers (starting 5 years ago with the macbook pro). And that was a pretty unpopular decision at the time. Now that the mobile phone industry has standardized on USB-C, they want to stick with lightning? Are they doing it just to be contrarian?

It seems likely that there are separate teams that develop the phone vs. the laptop. The laptop team embraced USB-C, and the phone team didn't.

That, or being lightning-only is simply more profitable. Public companies (like it or not) have a fiduciary duty to maximize shareholder wealth.

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

#532

Post by asddubs »

Robotbeat wrote: post #417
toyg wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is already a change from previous legislation that effectively mandated micro-USB. So yeah, it can be done.

Man, lightning is FAR better than the fragile micro-USB. I’ve had to repair microUSB ports multiple times.

micro usb does kind of suck, but it's vastly better than every phone having a different proprietary charger like it was before smartphones

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

#533

Post by pif »

OneTimePetes wrote: post #512
DangerousPie wrote: post #480

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not an expert by any means, but my impression is that, while they certainly still have some influence, lobbyists and big companies hold a lot less sway in European politics than in the US. Part of that may be tighter rules around campaign finance, part of it may be cultural.

Lots of right wing parties in the EU advocate for a "countryname-exit" and thus lobbyism in the EU has to fight the fear of no-existing very soon. Thus, the government has to fight for the approval of the people every day at gunpoint and thus, good legislation may appear for fear of loosing ones power, job and by that even the lobbyism bribery income.

> Lots of right wing parties in the EU advocate for a "countryname-exit"

Not anymore, that was the past!

Bellies are still aching from laughter after Brexit, and EU has got the final approval stamp after 2016.

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

#534

Post by lovemenot »

HPsquared wrote: post #284
diffeomorphism wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For charging? They pretty much are. For everything else? Maybe with somewhat reduced speed/features but good enough.

Do they all support the high voltage modes? USB PD goes up to 20V/5A (100W). https://www.cui.com/blog/usb-type-c-pd-and-pps#usb-power-del...

Yes, and if approved USB PD EPR (extended power range) proposal, will take it to 240 Watts over USB-C connectors.

This moves USB close to the domain in which government regulation has long been necessary for safety reasons.

It may be the case that the EU believes a standard domestic DC power supply is imminent and the EU believes PD (EPR) over USB-C meets the need.

If so, that would make sense, and I am pleased to see the EU trying to get ahead to standardise and remove risk from vendors as well as consumers.

By analogy, California had no natural right to export its CAFE automotive regulations. Yet CA had the foresight to cause that to happen anyway. Bravo.

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

#536

Post by JJzD »

DangerousPie wrote: post #480
behnamoh wrote: post #453

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it interesting that our main hope for forcing the big tech to follow ethical/environment_friendly/user_friendly procedures is not the US, but the EU. I'm not European, but can anyone tell me how does the political system in the EU let (or even motivate) law-makers and governments to support such mandates and laws that are in favor of consumers?

I'm not an expert by any means, but my impression is that, while they certainly still have some influence, lobbyists and big companies hold a lot less sway in European politics than in the US. Part of that may be tighter rules around campaign finance, part of it may be cultural.

There is not really a 'european' government. There is a political body, which is setting some wider rules in the union, but only in areas which have been transferred by national governments.

However, there is a tendency of these national governments to introduce laws on that level, and then turn around to their citizens and tell them 'Bruxelles told us to do this'.

There are certainly some stupid laws on that level, especially in the area of tech. But most of the complaints (these laws are conflicting!) are just a meme.

In general is the support for the EU a majority [1] and the UK only succesfully 'won' the referendum to leave, and are now seeing the difference the EU has made in daily life.

The quotes research is a bit older, I am certain the Covid response and the fallout from Brexit has improved the support for the European union.

[1] https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2019/10/14/the-european-u...

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

#537

Post by dmitriid »

easton wrote: post #530
dmitriid wrote: post #464

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And soon there will be USB4... https://old.reddit.com/r/UsbCHardware/comments/mjz2pu/usb4_a... and https://old.reddit.com/r/UsbCHardware/comments/mjz2pu/usb4_a...

Not soon, now. My MacBook was advertised as being USB4 compliant, since Apple probably feels funny about using the trademarked "Thunderbolt" name now that they don't have Intel chips in their hardware. USB 4 is mostly Thunderbolt 3 but without Intel determining whether you can use the name. (There's some differences, but most devices seem to use them interchangeably).

> USB 4 is mostly Thunderbolt 3

The second link shows exactly how USB 4 is not Thunderbolt, and why Apple can't use Thunderbolt with the new Macs.

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

#538

Post by shawnz »

jaywalk wrote: post #518
shawnz wrote: post #384

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was still considered a success because it at least reduced the need for proprietary AC adapters. Now it seems they want to expand on that to fix the proprietary cable/dongle issue too.

You never needed a proprietary AC adapter to charge an iPhone, just a "proprietary" cable.

Without the dongle you couldn't use iPhones with micro-USB AC adapters that don't have detachable cables.

However I agree that besides that specific circumstance, they were basically already compliant. The 2009 initiative wasn't targeting Apple specifically.

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

#539

Post by e_proxus »

wrboyce wrote: post #427
filiphorvat wrote: post #382

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, the CEE 7/7 plug will work almost everywhere in the EU, not counting the UK of course. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets#CEE...

If you use a screwdriver or similar to open the socket covers (shove the screwdriver into the earth socket) then you can indeed use a CEE 7/7 in a UK socket.

I used to do this with my keys every time I traveled to the UK and forgot my adapters.

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

#540

Post by zepto »

wutbrodo wrote: post #521
ewidar wrote: post #474

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're talking with no adapters here, as in you have a single plain usb-c charger for all your phones.

Why feed the trolls? It's plainly obvious to everyone here that "charge X with Y" doesn't by default include special adapters or connectors.

Not really. The biggest claim is that this measure will reduce e-waste, but that’s a red-herring since the e-waste is in the charger not the cable, and chargers are already interchangeable.
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