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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

#961

Post by stouset »

elif wrote: post #820
tomp wrote: post #751

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This argument would sound less hollow if there weren’t two existing superior (from a user experience perspective) alternatives already on the market. Apple’s Lightning (thinner than USB-C) and MagSafe (safer than USB-C for charging laptops… so glad Apple is transitioning back to it for M2 Airs)

"thinner" is not a universally superior quality. It also means "more likely to get bent or broken" which implies "more likely to need replacing" which is one of the direct aims of this legislation.

I have literally never seen or heard of a Lightning plug or port "getting bent or broken". However I have heard of the hidden-male-inside-of-female port of on-device USB-C ports breaking at which point your device is trash.

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

#962

Post by vineyardmike »

tshaddox wrote: post #907
vineyardmike wrote: post #903

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I find it very difficult to believe that Nintendo engineering gave it their best shot and simply couldn't manage to do it correctly. I'm sure that's not it. I'm sure it was "Hey product manager. We can launch in 6 weeks if this port accepts power and connects to a dock, or 36 weeks if we need to conform to standards in section 17, subsection 5 part 41.2B of standard 1120 on European code B7" "what does get us" "Not…

Perhaps so, but how is that something you can blame the spec for? Any remotely non-trivial spec will be easier to implement partially than to implement completely.

Maybe the spec should be more “trivial”. I like USB C over something like micro usb but micro usb is easy enough to use as a power source in my high school electronics class but i don’t think usb c would be.

Maybe apple had it right originally to have “thunderbolt” as a super powerful all-in-one cable (except add power) and we needed a simple “reversible micro usb” for everything else.

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

#963

Post by theptip »

simion314 wrote: post #950
theptip wrote: post #692

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be clear, if USB-C charging is mandatory, you cannot have an alternative charging port, unless you want to have multiple ports on your device, which is (I think obviously) absurd. By requiring USB-C, you forbid other port types from being used. So this regulation is forbidding Apple from using their Lightning connector, and also forbidding any other vendor from introducing an alternative. Without revision it presu…

Quoted post unavailable.

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

#964

Post by neuralRiot »

thiht wrote: post #905
thaway2839 wrote: post #764

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lightning cables don't last. They are a complete disaster. And that's not even considering how a little bit of dust can prevent your device from charging at all, and lightning ports are a complete dust magnet. But the best argument against "what about lightning?" is the fact that Apple themselves don't use it on their higher powered devices like macs, and use USB-C instead.

All these arguments are the same I use… against USB-C. I had 2 Google Pixels before with USB-C and both died because dust would accumulate around the center thingy and it was impossible to clean. The center thingy actually became loose on my second Pixel and the connector wouldn’t hold in place anymore. I have since switched to an iPhone and I think the lightning connector stays remarkably clean. It’s also easier to…

All these arguments have nothing to do with the new legislation. Should there be laws to enforce “better” options? Then phones should have mil-spec round connectors. I insist I don’t understand what problem is the law supposed to solve.

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

#965

Post by Zak »

Lio wrote: post #957
Zak wrote: post #867

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like US plugs. Sure, it's easier to shock yourself with them, but you usually only do that once (because it feels bad, not because it's often fatal). I like them because they're small . I have a nifty little 3-port USB-A/C power supply where the plug folds flush. Europlug would have trouble doing that, and it's outright impossible with Schuko and UK plugs.

I have a nifty little 3-port USB-A/C power supply where the plug folds flush. ... and it's outright impossible with Schuko and UK plugs You mean exactly like this folding UK adapter from Apple? :P https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/product/MGMY3B/A/apple-5w-usb-... Other folding UK plug brands are available. /bbc_announcer_voice

That's the closest I've seen. There's still a huge amount of bulk devoted to the plug, but that does fold flat.

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

#966

Post by AprilArcus »

ProZsolt wrote: post #491
AprilArcus wrote: post #456

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iPhone fast charging over lightning runs at 9 volts.

... and uses USB-C on the other end of the cable

There's no cable that has lightning on both ends; the 5V configuration has USB-A on the power supply side. My point is just that that lightning connector isn't limited to 5V.

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

#967

Post by musictubes »

jchw wrote: post #744
bsnal wrote: post #612

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like history of computing goes against this

When in history has interoperability not been a catalyst for innovation? Look at everything people do in browsers now. Or if that's not to your taste, perhaps the era of BASIC is a better example. Not all standards are good, but a decent standard is better, or at least much more practically useful, than a lot of better but incompatible proprietary equivalents. Of course it doesn't have to be mandated, and in the past…

Hardware innovation relies on competition. Interoperability can be useful for iteration but true hardware innovation would seem to require being different from the status quo, no?

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

#968

Post by musictubes »

sydd wrote: post #739
kennywinker wrote: post #715

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As far as a I know, in the history of smartphones - which I'd say starts in 2007 with the launch of the iPhone - there have only really been 4 (or maybe 5) connectors used on widely sold phones: 1. Apple 30pin "iPod" connector 2. Apple Lightning connector 3. Mini USB (I don't think this ever appeared on anything but blackberries and cheapo flip phones?) 4. Micro USB 5. USB-C So, while I agree that cable changes are a…

Except that the current USB-C situation is a mess, and this regulation plans to solve this. I got a pretty expensive HP monitor for work from my company that connects via USB-C (and can charge my Mac). IT has sworn me to not loose its USB-C cable because for some unknown reasons it refuses to work with other cables, it costs >$100 and is constantly out of stock.

Sounds like a thunderbolt cable. USB C is the connector but it can support a slew of different protocols. It's one of the reasons USB C is a mess.

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

#969

Post by ranguna »

Ekaros wrote: post #624
bsnal wrote: post #612

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like history of computing goes against this

PC and x86 took us pretty far... And that was mostly carried on interoperability... I doubt we would have gotten to technology being as ubiquitous as it is without it.

I'm all in favour the EU doing what it's doing, but x86 is actually a good example to not enforce this standard. Imagine that the EU enforced x86 as well, what would've happened to ARM ?

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

#970

Post by ranguna »

qwerty456127 wrote: post #336
mrtksn wrote: post #123

By the way, that's also how Tesla and all other cars have the same electric plug in EU(not the USB mandate but the car plug standardisation mandate). Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is what happens if better solutions are found. Will EU block innovation? That question is addressed in the Q&A: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/QANDA_... In essence, they seem to believe that wired char…

> Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is what happens if better solutions are found. Will EU block innovation? The EU has no problem with updating to improved standards. First there was USB-Mini-B, then USB-Micro-B, now USB-C. I would expect some different connector to replace it in a about a decade and 100% wireless in two decades roughly.

USB-C only came to light because of the out of standard Intel's lightning cable. Same thing for x86 vs arm, you can't really block one in favour of the other.
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