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EU sends Apple stark warning over USB-C charging on new iPhones

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Re: EU sends Apple stark warning over USB-C charging on new iPhones

#11

Post by bartread »

I recently bought an Apple TV. It's a great device, but comes with a remote that's USB-C charged. That's fine except that it doesn't come with a USB-C cable, nor does the device have a USB port that could be used for charging the remote. So I ended up having to buy a third party USB charger and cable (I just don't have that much USB-C stuff laying around). That pissed me off and I wasn't shy about, politely, letting the staff in the Apple Store know it - to be fair, they agreed with me it was ridiculous. I can't overstate how much I dislike it when I buy a consumer device and everything I need to operate said device isn't included in the box.

With that being said, the EU can fuck right off with this USB-C insistence. I've been using iPhones for 13 years now personally, and for 6 years with work. I have lightning cables coming out of my ears (a mixture of first and third party). Charging devices up with a lightning cable is incredibly convenient, and especially since I have USB connectors in many of the power sockets around my house. All of that is rendered useless because of the EU's loathsome meddling.

(I am generally an EU fan, but live in the UK which of course is no longer part of the EU. I can't say I'm at all happy about that but what I'm even less happy about is that even though we could potentially go a different route here, and a better route for people already in the Apple ecosystem who have the necessary accessories, Apple will no doubt consider it easier to supply EU compliant iPhones in the UK, for which I can't really blame them, but I'll gladly shake my fist at Brussels over it.)

Re: EU sends Apple stark warning over USB-C charging on new iPhones

#12

Post by bpfrh »

nachteilig wrote: post #7

I would basically never assume that the EU actually understand the technical parts of these regulations. On its face it sounds pro-consumer, but USB-C is hardly a unified experience and I am almost sympathetic with Apple here from a user experience perspective.

Could you expand on that?

The EU effort to standardize phone connectors led to nearly every phone manufacturer adopt micro usb and then usb c.

I don't see any reason that apple would be unable to use usb c after a everyone else uses it for more then 2 years.

Re: EU sends Apple stark warning over USB-C charging on new iPhones

#14

Post by capableweb »

bartread wrote: post #11

I recently bought an Apple TV. It's a great device, but comes with a remote that's USB-C charged. That's fine except that it doesn't come with a USB-C cable, nor does the device have a USB port that could be used for charging the remote. So I ended up having to buy a third party USB charger and cable (I just don't have that much USB-C stuff laying around). That pissed me off and I wasn't shy about, politely, letting…

So you're mad that the regulation doesn't personally take your specific situation into account?

Could you maybe see or understand that maybe the regulation is a bit more "big picture" than specific individuals needs, like society at large?

Re: EU sends Apple stark warning over USB-C charging on new iPhones

#15

Post by kstenerud »

bartread wrote: post #11

I recently bought an Apple TV. It's a great device, but comes with a remote that's USB-C charged. That's fine except that it doesn't come with a USB-C cable, nor does the device have a USB port that could be used for charging the remote. So I ended up having to buy a third party USB charger and cable (I just don't have that much USB-C stuff laying around). That pissed me off and I wasn't shy about, politely, letting…

> Charging devices up with a lightning cable is incredibly convenient, and especially since I have USB connectors in many of the power sockets around my house. All of that is rendered useless because of the EU's loathsome meddling.

How is all of that rendered useless? You have the USB connectors in your power sockets already, so all that's left to do is plug a USB-A to USB-C cable in.

Re: EU sends Apple stark warning over USB-C charging on new iPhones

#16

Post by oger »

First of all: the EU definitely had good intentions when regulating the charger mess. The amount of incompatible chargers rotting in drawers and (possibly) landfills could definitely be reduced over time by agreeing on a common physical and electrical interface.

However — limiting technical progress is not a good idea and we see that with the plethor of different power modes existing within USB-C. Possibly politicians only saw the physical plug but never understood the depth behind it.

And that’s where we reach the limits. What if a company (Apple) comes up with a more efficient but also more elaborate way to quick charge their equipment? How would you handle a situation where non-compliant chargers could even harm this equipment?

USB-C already is way too complex for the average Shenzen cookie cutter factory to implement it correctly.

How would you protect your customers from such a situation?

While it may superficially look evasive I am willing to pick Apple‘s side here.

Re: EU sends Apple stark warning over USB-C charging on new iPhones

#17

Post by mszcz »

bartread wrote: post #11

I recently bought an Apple TV. It's a great device, but comes with a remote that's USB-C charged. That's fine except that it doesn't come with a USB-C cable, nor does the device have a USB port that could be used for charging the remote. So I ended up having to buy a third party USB charger and cable (I just don't have that much USB-C stuff laying around). That pissed me off and I wasn't shy about, politely, letting…

It's not EU's loathsome meddling, it's Apple's loathsome insistince on using a proprietary cable for years and years to make an extra buck that has your knickers in a twist now.

Re: EU sends Apple stark warning over USB-C charging on new iPhones

#18

Post by misnome »

Lapalux wrote: post #4

I don't understand why Apple are dragging their heels on this so much

On what? This article is pure speculation, and Apple has been slowly moving more and more of their ecosystem to USB-C over time anyway. It sounds like good for the consumer that they don't have to throw out all of their existing cables at once.

.... and as far as I can tell USB-C is a shitshow of an ecosystem anyway. This entire article could just be saying that Apple devices could charge "slower" on random USB-C cables and only guarantee fast charging on Apple-branded cables....

... which sounds like Apple being anticompetitive if you know nothing about the state of the USB-C ecosystem.

Re: EU sends Apple stark warning over USB-C charging on new iPhones

#20

Post by hdjjhhvvhga »

Lapalux wrote: post #4

I don't understand why Apple are dragging their heels on this so much

At least this thing should be clear. Apple's motto has always been "Think different". They were selling personal computers but wanted them to be different from PCs. In order to do that, they would introduce many changes that were presented as superior. And in fact, many (if not most) were actually excellent. Some, such as removal of ports, gluing parts together and making devices hard to repair, were plain user-hostile. In this case, it's mostly about the money though.
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