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EU reaches deal to make USB-C a common charger for most electronic devices

engadget.com

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Re: EU reaches deal to make USB-C a common charger for most electronic devices

#71

Post by frizlab »

lm28469 wrote: post #46
frizlab wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lightning is a far superior plug than usb-c (don’t tell me about data transfer, I don’t care, I care about the durability and ease of plugging of the plug itself), I have MANY lightning cables (that I will have to throw away, how is that good for e-waste?), and in a more general sense the law basically forbids evolution. I am livid that they’d do something like that instead of working on actual stuff like forbidding…

So Apple should share its proprietary connector (good luck with that) for free (?) and everyone else should adopt it (good luck with that too) because _you_ bought a bunch of cables ? I don't see Samsung and the other big ones investing in a whole new connector for their entire lineup to please Europe, whereas apple already has usb-c devices They're both equally easy to use, lightning is just slower. Seems like it's…

I never said I wanted lightning enforced though. I’m talking about evolution of the design of the plug, not its software specs.

Re: EU reaches deal to make USB-C a common charger for most electronic devices

#72

Post by PinguTS »

schleck8 wrote: post #59
PinguTS wrote: post #33

Everybody who is frenetically celebrating this as the end of the manufacturer-specific power brick, does simply not know that USB-C is not USB-C. There is no single USB-C. USB-C is a bunch of specifications that may can be combined or may not. USB-C is only the physical connector. USB-C PD (Power delivery) does support many different modes. There are at least 11 different modes with at least 4 of them are optional. I…

> makes it for the average consumer a nightmare. No, it doesn't. Almost all my devices (macbook, camera, speaker, phone, headphones...) use usb c pd and I am using the same three cables interchangeably for all of them, no issues. If Apple choses to intentionally break this compatibility it's a user hostile company.

If everything is so cool, so why is this Google engineer reviewing USB-C cables? https://www.theverge.com/2015/11/5/9674462/usb-type-c-google...

Re: EU reaches deal to make USB-C a common charger for most electronic devices

#73

Post by galangalalgol »

frizlab wrote: post #16
messe wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why?

Lightning is a far superior plug than usb-c (don’t tell me about data transfer, I don’t care, I care about the durability and ease of plugging of the plug itself), I have MANY lightning cables (that I will have to throw away, how is that good for e-waste?), and in a more general sense the law basically forbids evolution. I am livid that they’d do something like that instead of working on actual stuff like forbidding…

Apple already moved the ipad and macbook to usb-c charging, and have stated the iphone after next would be usb-c anyway. I doubt this changed Apple's plans a bit. In fact, Apple's decision might have been the driver for the EU to move on this.

Anecdotally, while I've had usb-c connectors break off about as often as lightening ones, the lightening cables seem to just stop working sometimes, and I've never had that with even cheap usb-c cables.

Re: EU reaches deal to make USB-C a common charger for most electronic devices

#74

Post by [deleted] »

pmontra wrote: post #70
Youden wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What innovations are ruled out by mandatory use of the USB-C connector? It supports more power and data than a mobile device is ever really likely to need. All that's left is the physical form factor and I'm not sure there's a lot of room for improvement there, especially enough to justify the tons of electronic waste.

I try to be devil's advocate with a sci-fi bullshit: a five seconds supercharger with a laser over a fiber optic cable (to keep the beam confined and not to burn stuff.)

[deleted]

Re: EU reaches deal to make USB-C a common charger for most electronic devices

#75

Post by hocuspocus »

PinguTS wrote: post #72
schleck8 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> makes it for the average consumer a nightmare. No, it doesn't. Almost all my devices (macbook, camera, speaker, phone, headphones...) use usb c pd and I am using the same three cables interchangeably for all of them, no issues. If Apple choses to intentionally break this compatibility it's a user hostile company.

If everything is so cool, so why is this Google engineer reviewing USB-C cables? https://www.theverge.com/2015/11/5/9674462/usb-type-c-google...

We aren't in 2015 anymore.

Re: EU reaches deal to make USB-C a common charger for most electronic devices

#76

Post by kaba0 »

glogla wrote: post #15
lekevicius wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think this is the right take. - We already have reliable rumors that next-next iPhone (not this Sept, but next) will have USB-C port. - Qi is not a standard they control like Lightning either way. - Portless phone would be very unpopular (no fast charging), USB-C would be very popular. Apple would not choose to be unpopular just to watch the world hate them.

> - Portless phone would be very unpopular (no fast charging), USB-C would be very popular. Apple would not choose to be unpopular just to watch the world hate them. The same Apple which removed headphone jack so they can sell more dongles and wireless headphones? I can see them making portless phone just out of pure spite (maybe having cheaper version with port and not selling that in EU).

The headphone jack did take up a considerable amount of space and made waterproofing quite a bit harder. It't not like it was not a well-considered tradeoff. Companies don't work based on spite, but based on profit.

Re: EU reaches deal to make USB-C a common charger for most electronic devices

#77

Post by [deleted] »

mrjin wrote: post #67

Oh well. I just returned 3 USB-C hubs in a row, one almost fried my computer. Since the introduce of USB-C, I have more cables than ever. There are virtually so many types of USB-C cables with different capabilities and all looks almost exactly the same. Some cannot handle charging current of 2A or less. Some might be able to do 3A, some maybe 5A. And some of it is USB 2.0, some are USB 3.x 5Gbps, 10Gbps, 20 Gbps or…

[deleted]

Re: EU reaches deal to make USB-C a common charger for most electronic devices

#78

Post by mrjin »

stewx wrote: post #11
maccard wrote: post #7

The problem with USB-C is that you can't just pick up a device cable and power brick and expect them to work together. As an example, my Apple 96W USB-C charger doesn't charge my nintendo switch. The cable that came with my phone doesn't charge said fully Mac when used with the 96w charger. There is no indication of incompatibility between these devices until you realise they don't work. This is going back to the dc…

The issue with the Nintendo Switch is that Nintendo designed their own faulty USB-C charging implementation rather than merely using the reference design. It's not a failure of the spec, it's a failure to adhere to the spec. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16706803

It's obviously the failure of the spec. Why cables with different capabilities have to look exactly the same? Put the looking aside, I wondering if anyone can tell what's the exact differences between different specs? USB standards are already a mass, USB-C just made things 10 times if not 100 times worse.

Re: EU reaches deal to make USB-C a common charger for most electronic devices

#79

Post by kaba0 »

jjcm wrote: post #52

One thing I would love to see here is an end of life for this ruling. I.e. “effective as of 2024, but not enforced after 2030 without renewal”. Market saturation of the standard alone should be enough to get alignment on a single connector, following which it will require significant effort to deviate from it regardless of legislation. I’m still happy with this in the short term - very tired of having to juggle two t…

That would be indeed a worthwhile addition, though hopefully the legislation won't kill off a potential better update without it either.
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