Earlier quoted context omitted.
All the handwringing about stifling innovation is on its face ridiculous as mandates to use micro-usb didn't stop android phones from adopting the new and better standard as soon as it was viable. I'm not sure I understand your logic here. Android phones were able to quickly move to micro USB because they weren't restricted from doing so by a government regulation. If there was a government mandate requiring phones t…
Micro usb was mandatory in europe for phones years ago.
EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024
421–430 of 1001 posts
Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024
#422Why do people think it is a good thing to have this enforced by law is beyond me. I don't see any win besides a minor convenience. A lightning cable weighs almost nothing and it's not a big deal to have one around. As to lightning port limitations, I question whether usb-c will give average iPhone users any other advantage other than charging their phone. What are people gonna do with it other than charge their phone…
If it doesn't matter at all, why is Apple still stubbornly refusing to adapt?
Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024
#423I have no sympathy or love for Apple, but this seems wrong. Technology comes and goes, standards evolve and fall away as new ones arrive. I don't think the law has any place in deciding who uses what connector in this fashion. They can make an e-waste argument all they want, but it's nonsense. All it does is stifle future work on connectors and devices in general.
The law just makes it so that a single industry standard must be followed. Changing this standard is fairly easy, it just requires the European Commission to amend it. This means that if there's a better connector, USB-IF (being made up out of most of the people actually designing the hardware using it) can just release a new standard and get it approved. Edit: It's actually the Commission, not parliament that's allo…
Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024
#424Forced usb-c charger for laptops is concerning. 1) it is additional attack vector, what if maid in my hotel enhanced my charging brick with rubber ducky? 2) mag safe is very convenient
1. if you are worried about these type of attacks than charger is least of your worries... You should probably turn off thunderbolt support completely... 2. I think mag safe chargers will be allowed to continue. Note that even now you can charge the macbooks with magsafe with usb-c charger..
I'm sure these will be available in iPhone design soon:
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/usbharpoon-is...
A charger has one job, namely to charge. Stop this "thin hardware design" mania and design a proper plug.
Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024
#425Earlier quoted context omitted.
> If there was a government mandate requiring phones to have whatever connector came before micro USB, wouldn't that have prevented the Android phones from changing connectors/choosing the new innovation? Dunno, we have a test case tho: how'd the Micro-B to USB-C transition go in EU markets?
Happened a while ago, you have to go out of your way to find (new) android phones with Micro-B.
Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024
#426Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I don't see any win besides a minor convenience. A lightning cable weighs almost nothing and it's not a big deal to have one around. The standardization is good for a lot of purposes: - cutting down on the number of cables and especially chargers. Seriously, it's amazing to have one single Anker 65W power supply and a single cable on vacation and it can charge everything - tablet, work phone, laptop, power bank, dr…
I think if you're going to accuse Apple of rent seeking here you also pretty much have to accuse anyone who develops their own standard or plugin or similar of rent seeking as well. When will the EU ban HDMI connections to monitors or force Apple to remove them from MacBooks? Why are dSLR cameras allowed to continue to use micro USB and SD cards when they could just use USB-C so we don't have to buy dongles and adapt…
HDMI is a somewhat-open-ish, widespread standard and for what it's worth Apple MacBook models haven't carried HDMI ports for ages now.
> Why are dSLR cameras allowed to continue to use micro USB and SD cards when they could just use USB-C so we don't have to buy dongles and adapters?
Again, the market seems to converge towards USB-C already (almost all the models on [1] and other buying guides have USB-C), and for memory cards towards SD cards and CFexpress (on the pro segment). Both of these are somewhat-open-ish again.
The EU usually only steps in when the free market is either stuck somewhere along the road and needs a push towards a specific standard (=> USB-C), profit incentives need to be overruled (=> RoHS / leaded solder) or the free market suffers from oligopolies that need to be broken up for actual competition or the creation of an actual single market (=> EU-wide mobile roaming).
> The argument that Apple only provides one physical port (they also provide Magsafe and allow other wireless charging options) isn't sufficient with respect to your discussion point about market-wide standards.
Apple can provide a MagSafe port on MacBooks or a Lightning port on iDevices if they want. All Apple has to do is to support the mandated USB-C port as well!
[1] https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/buying-guides/the-best-mi...
Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024
#427Earlier quoted context omitted.
Electronics companies decide what's best for them. Competition in the smart phone market is done, so consumers no longer have a say. These kinds of interoperability standards are great and would love to see more of them internationally.
Consumers still don't have a say. Now instead of companies choosing what hardware & features are best for their product, and you then choosing products based on your preferences, EU regulators are now forcing companies (and therefore you) to use whatever they think is best. I think in the case of USB-C it's not too bad just because USB-C is widely agreed to be a good connector that's already widely adopted, but there…
Oh, capitalism makes all these choices possible for me, how wonderful!
Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024
#428Self-regulation only works if government regulation is a serious threat in case self-regulation fails. In this case, self-regulation failed, so government regulation stepped in to force industry to do what is right. All the handwringing about stifling innovation is on its face ridiculous as mandates to use micro-usb didn't stop android phones from adopting the new and better standard as soon as it was viable.
Well... I agree with the spirit of the effort, but not the letter of it. >>> From spring 2026, the obligation will extend to laptops So this would force Apple to replace MagSafe with USB-C? How is that not killing innovation? Standardisation should be a goal, but I just feel this particular effort is too specific and brings very little value to consumers. Why don't we standardise payment protocols instead? Or biometr…
Depends how the law is written.
"Must have at least one USB C port for charging"? Then current laptops with magsafe are already compliant.
"Must only have …"? Then I would agree it goes too far.
Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024
#429I like USB-C and would even be in favour of the iPhone using USB-C, but I really dislike the idea that EU regulators would know what's better for consumers than consumer electronics companies and the consumers themselves. I do kind of get it though. It's probably better for a whole host of reasons if electronics all used the same cords, but I guess you could make that argument for a lot of things. There would be bene…
Are you old enough to remember the early 2000s when every phone and portable media player had it's own charger, which often wasn't even transferable between devices by the same manufacturer? It led to lots of old chargers when devices were replaced, which were useless for anything else (I remember having bags of cables and chargers). And if you wanted a second charger for whatever reason (this was before you needed t…
I’m curious what you’re referring to. I charge my Apple Pencil while connected to my iPad, and my iPad chargers via usb c. No adapters for me?
Re: EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024
#430Earlier quoted context omitted.
Did the current cable used by the iPhone have this problem too? If not, isn't this changing it to the worse? edit to clarify: ... because while Apple might still include a working cable, but if you grab one of the 10 cables out of your cable box, you don't know if it will actually work.
https://9to5mac.com/2018/08/22/how-to-choose-a-usb-c-cable/a... It would be funny if this ruling strengthened Apple’s position because no one knows which off-brand cable will destroy their device by not limiting current draw. Without strong regulations on the usb cables themselves, it almost seems like putting the cart before the horse.