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

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

#581

Post by helmholtz »

kashyapc wrote: post #566

USB-C for laptop power ports seems to be incredibly flaky. :-( Let me share my ongoing horror story (excuse the verbosity): I've got a barely 3-months old Lenovo X1 Carbon (Gen-9) work laptop. A week ago I noticed the battery draining while the power cord is plugged in! Nothing worked: reset via the pinhole at the back, trying out different chargers, BIOS update, charging while the OS (Linux) is shut down, "to elimin…

To me, the ideal solution is something that Apple had for ages, and now them and Microsoft both have. Magsafe. Use a nice, robust, safe laptop charger for most of your workdays, when things are routine and you have control over the environment. Then, if you're going to travel, and need to be ultralight, you carry your GaN compact, high-power travel power adapter with USB-C so you have one charger and one cable for all the things. I don't see why we have to give up magsafe for USB-C when we can have both.

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

#582

Post by fuzzybear3965 »

kashyapc wrote: post #566

USB-C for laptop power ports seems to be incredibly flaky. :-( Let me share my ongoing horror story (excuse the verbosity): I've got a barely 3-months old Lenovo X1 Carbon (Gen-9) work laptop. A week ago I noticed the battery draining while the power cord is plugged in! Nothing worked: reset via the pinhole at the back, trying out different chargers, BIOS update, charging while the OS (Linux) is shut down, "to elimin…

It seems that USB-C for _Lenovo_ laptop power ports seems to be incredibly flaky. I have 2 year-old HP Spectre x360 and a new Framework and I've had no problems with charging either of them from a number of different USB-C cables, wall adapters, and even a power delivery monitor (Dell U2520D).

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

#583

Post by afpx »

Bayart wrote: post #534
leadingthenet wrote: post #506

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Let's say the USB consortium releases USB-D with input from Apple, Google, and many other stakeholders [...] If you have to make such an argument, you've already lost. Innovation, particularly disruptive and / or breakthrough innovation, does not happen by committee, no matter how many times over history people tried deluding themselves into thinking that it does. So no, it's not fine.

Standards happen by committee. They're not disruptive and that's the point .

Standards bodies work like other technical teams. They actually produce useful output if they're fed sufficient requirements and stakeholder input.

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

#584

Post by mmastrac »

nybble41 wrote: post #541
mmastrac wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'll spend the next 20 years realising I have the wrong white phone charging cable with me > I still won't trust random USB-C cables > I still won't trust random USB-C chargers My answer to all three of these is the same: Why? My phone charges with every crappy USB cable and charger. Heck, my laptop will trickle charge [!] off a crappy cable on a crappy airline USB-C port. There's one place where I'm very careful a…

> [!] Amusingly, my laptop won't actually charge off the _standard_ A/C plugs on most airplanes because the 100W charger blows a soft fuse that requires unplugging and replugging the A/C adapter! To be fair, 100 W may not seem like a lot when you're used to plugging in to the national power grid, but it's a lot to ask for a non-essential system supplied by an off-grid generator shared by hundreds of passengers. And 1…

Oh yeah, that's totally fair. With a standard USB-C DC plug, however, the charger could negotiate a lower current and even provide power fairness across all seats to support the entire plane's load.

My point was really that even the most entrenched "standards" are all just leaky abstractions.

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

#585

Post by lattalayta »

throw0101a wrote: post #563
tediousdemise wrote: post #545

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's kind of sad to me that Apple doesn't make Lightning an open standard. In all my years, I haven't had a single Lightning connector fail on me. The solid metal where the contacts reside is just too robust to wear out or get damaged (unless you somehow step on it the right way or let it corrode). USB-C connectors, on the other hand, seems to loosen after a rather small number mates and de-mates, leading people to u…

> In all my years, I haven't had a single Lightning connector fail on me. The solid metal where the contacts reside is just too robust to wear out or get damaged (unless you somehow step on it the right way or let it corrode). I'm on my second phone where the Lightning connector barely works anymore. 'Thankfully' this one support Qi so I can charge wireless, but if I want to do a wired backup or upgrade I have to jig…

If you haven't, you might want to try carefully "cleaning out" the lightning port with a toothpick or other small tool. I've seen multiple iPhones collect enough lint and dust in the lightning port over the years to make the connection still work sometimes but be unreliable until you clean it out

https://www.tomsguide.com/how-to/how-to-clean-iphone-chargin...

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

#586

Post by ZekeSulastin »

bloppe wrote: post #485

A lot of people saying "USB-C cables aren't even compatible with each other!" (Nintendo switch etc.) Guess what: that's exactly the problem this regulation is intended to solve. Fake USB-C cables like Nintendo's that have the right shape but do not adhere to spec should gradually disappear along with lightning cables. The regulation actually says that cables can no longer be bundled with the devices themselves, so Ni…

“The regulation actually says that cables can no longer be bundled with the devices themselves”

I don’t think anyone’s mentioned that. Oh my god, tech social media is going to melt down when that kicks in if the reaction to chargers being excluded is any indication (not to mention a repeat of the shift from 30-pin to Lightning in Apple’s case, except now without a cable).

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

#587

Post by Longhanks »

hda2 wrote: post #523
urgentmessage wrote: post #451

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you seem to think that annoying Apple creates welfare for EU citizens But it doesn't. Regulators may "win" a battle. But consumers lose big time. And I don't think bureaucrats should take precedence versus consumers.

I think GP's point is that you almost never win when you go against regulators head-on. Ultimately, they're the ones who have the guns (i.e control imports, exports, and enforcement). Now that it got to this point, Apple will yield if it wants to continue profiting off those markets. I do agree that legislating technology this way is a big mistake on EU's part. This is basically South Korea's ActiveX law all over aga…

Apple and Google won when EU countries tried the centralized covid control tracing, and they both went "you're not going to get this". Some countries were furious, yelled they're going to force Apple, that the EU is going to force Apple, yadda yadda.

Nothing prevailed. Apple and Google dictated the API and the EU countries submitted, because they did not have time to enforce their will.

It is not Apple's, Google's, or America's fault that the EU has become so little innovative, rather hostile towards software developers and entrepreneurs, that they have no power in the digital world. And for the EU it is easier to blame american companies, instead of admitting failure and working towards creating an more enterprise-friendly hub in Europe.

I mean, as others have noted, why isn't the EU regulating the other side of the connector? Why are there 3+ power plugs in the EU? Shouldn't this be regulated first, if the EU's argument of reducing electronic waste be considered? No, those aren't created by american companies.

I'm sick of the EU, its constant attempts to circumvent privacy (such as the current legislation of ending end to end encryption for chats), while obviously lacking in the democracy department (why is the comission not elected?).

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

#588

Post by kashyapc »

fuzzybear3965 wrote: post #582
kashyapc wrote: post #566

USB-C for laptop power ports seems to be incredibly flaky. :-( Let me share my ongoing horror story (excuse the verbosity): I've got a barely 3-months old Lenovo X1 Carbon (Gen-9) work laptop. A week ago I noticed the battery draining while the power cord is plugged in! Nothing worked: reset via the pinhole at the back, trying out different chargers, BIOS update, charging while the OS (Linux) is shut down, "to elimin…

It seems that USB-C for _Lenovo_ laptop power ports seems to be incredibly flaky. I have 2 year-old HP Spectre x360 and a new Framework and I've had no problems with charging either of them from a number of different USB-C cables, wall adapters, and even a power delivery monitor (Dell U2520D).

I thought so too, that this may be Lenovo-specific. But the Lenovo technician claimed: "this is not Lenovo-specific, it happens with other laptops too". I just naively took his word. Good to know that it works reliably with other vendors.

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

#589

Post by superb-owl »

I currently own several USB-C devices (Laptop, phone, Remarkable, Switch, portable monitor) and I can't tell you how nice it is to only have to bring a single charger with me when I travel. The biggest thing holding me back from getting an iPhone is breaking this pattern.

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

#590

Post by fy20 »

IvanK_net wrote: post #557

I wish EU standardizes a single electric socket for all EU countries. Germany, France, Switzerland and Italy - each has a different socket (although German and French are very similar to each other). More here: https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/EuropePlugsSockets.html

CEE 7/7 plugs will fit into all sockets in the EU, except Italy (where they can be bent slightly to fit), Malta and Ireland. The only issue is grounding, but things like phone chargers wouldn't be grounded anyway.
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