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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

#661

Post by gumby »

avianlyric wrote: post #24
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?

Probably they think they can make the jump to a completely wireless phone before any USB-C mandates come in. Apple's timing with the lighting port wasn't great, with it arriving just before USB-C, and I imagine they're very reluctant to change the port on their phones because people already have lightning cables everywhere. Personally I would love to see USB-C on my iPhone, but I look at my parents, and having the po…

> Apple's timing with the lighting port wasn't great, with it arriving just before USB-C, and I imagine they're very reluctant to change the port on their phones because people already have lightning cables everywhere.

Apple was on the USB-design committee (and lightning experience informed the design) and knew all the timing. The standard wasn’t even finalized for quite some time after Apple started shipping lightning.

Lightning has now been around longer than the 30-pin connector, I really don’t understand Apple’s reluctance. I go of my way to by Type C devices for simplicity’s sake, though still have to travel with micro-A, Type C, lightning, and a special watch charger, grr. At least I have only one type of power brick.

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

#662

Post by alserio »

piaste wrote: post #597
alserio wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The real problem right now should be the weight, the trend is going in the wrong direction.

Just curious, for which use cases is weight a significant problem? Even the heaviest phones - rugged or foldables - seem to hover around 300g. That shouldn't be at all tiring unless you are holding them for literal hours nonstop, or unless you're a small child - and in both scenarios it's good to be encouraged to put the phone down after a while.

While reading in my bed my phone has fallen on my nose while more than once. Anyway, my usual official answer is long commute to work.

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

#663

Post by 8ytecoder »

ashtonkem wrote: post #631
Hamuko wrote: post #574

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then they'd still be shipping e-waste in the form of a cable that you cannot plug into anything.

Cables are pretty low on the e waste front, since it’s mostly pure copper and shielding. The e waste for the charger is worse.

Plus usb-c to lightning cables were essentially for connecting the iPhone to the Mac. I’d bet that’s the reason the cables was retained.

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

#664

Post by spoonjim »

foogazi wrote: post #616
spoonjim wrote: post #493

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Legislating pricing is something governments can do well. Legislating physical interconnect is an area where they are much more likely to be ignorant of the relevant requirements. I, for one, vastly prefer Lightning to USB-C despite the interoperability; I hope that if the EU goes down this road that Apple makes a Lightning phone for the rest of us.

> I, for one, vastly prefer Lightning to USB-C despite the interoperability; Why do you prefer Lightning over USB-C ?

MUCH easier to connect in the dark, which I do a lot of. My broader point is that government regulators are not product managers / user researchers and shouldn’t get in the business of regulating specific features.

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

#665

Post by 8ytecoder »

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?

I buy something like this with all three in the same cable

https://www.amazon.com/ASICEN-Retractable-Lightning-Charging...

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

#666

Post by Cosmin_C »

alxhill wrote: post #550
Hamuko wrote: post #506

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple's charger unbundling was stupid. They sold the iPhone with a USB-A charging brick for like 12 years. Then when the iPhone 11 came out in 2019, it came with a USB-C charging brick and a USB-C to Lightning cable, which would not work with any of the chargers they bundled for the past decade and some. And then, one year after changing the cable, they took away the USB-C charging brick. "Just use the ones you alrea…

I think it's reasonable for Apple to assume that if you kept the old charger, you also had the old cable for it which would also work with the new iPhone.

It is also completely unreasonable to assume your clients all upgraded to the previous model which still had an USB-C charging brick when all the previous chargers had a USB-A port.

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

#667

Post by daxelrod »

kergonath wrote: post #156
tim333 wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>USB-C more vulnerable to e.g. dust A trouble with lightning is the dust etc. gets stuck in the phone socket - I've had to replace two at like £50 a go. Getting a new cable is often easier.

A paper clip or a cocktail stick is enough to clean a Lightning port with dust in it. No need to change anything.

You're best off with something that isn't conductive to avoid shorting any of the pins. I'd stay away from paper clips. Toothpicks also work well.

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

#668

Post by pantulis »

zxcvbn4038 wrote: post #660
danpalmer wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They probably considered Lightning to be superior but couldn't make it the industry standard without loosing their ability to charge absurd amounts of licensing fees for it. I don't think it's this. Lightning was superior to micro-USB, but it's certainly not superior to USB-C. I think the problem is that everyone remembers the transition from the 30 pin dock connector to Lightning. Apple has a huge reputation for j…

> People don't have 10 year old cables and chargers around. Just looking in my cable drawer I have USB types A, B, mini-A, mini-B, micro-A, micro-B, and C. I also have lightening and apple dock from the original iPhone. I have some weird Chinese cable that looks like USB micro-A and micro-B but doesn't fit either. There are a few barrel connectors from my old Nokia phones. A couple of my wife's old Samsung phone cabl…

Just curious, why do you keep all that stuff around?

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

#669

Post by JumpCrisscross »

pg_1234 wrote: post #652
drdaeman wrote: post #639

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suppose GP meant "portless", assuming that iPhone may drop lightning port without replacement and only rely on the wireless charging.

The intention is clearly that the consumer be able to charge any phone using a generic usb-c charger. Apple's proprietary wireless charging would fail that criteria. I imagine that if Apple made their technology an industry standard, that a) others could implement, and b) Apple were themselves governed by, then the EU would consider it in addition to usb-c.

> intention is clearly that the consumer be able to charge any phone using a generic usb-c charger

The stated intention is to reduce e-waste. Removing the cable altogether accomplishes that goal.

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

#670

Post by amelius »

dbbk wrote: post #261
amelius wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Probably they think they can make the jump to a completely wireless phone before any USB-C mandates come in. What is the efficiency of wireless charging?

I see a lot of comments suggesting that Apple want to go fully wireless but it makes no practical sense to me. Their MagSafe charger not only charges far slower (as of now), but it's also huge. It's just not practical to ask someone to carry that around with them or take it when they go travelling.

Also, next time EU will rephrase their law such that every device should really use the same charger (whether wired or wireless).
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