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India follows EU's example in requiring USB-C charging for smart devices

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Re: India follows EU's example in requiring USB-C charging for smart devices

#141
post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> one bad player, Apple, to do the right thing very strange reading this since i still buy electrical devices produced in 2022 with micro-usb, custom plugs, or whatever was cheapest when they assembled the device.

The law does not apply to all electronic devices. The law only applies to consumer handhelds. That’s mobile phones, tablets, e-readers, earbuds, digital cameras, headphones and headsets, handheld videogame consoles and portable speakers. And at a later date, laptops. It’s hard to think of any popular devices in those categories, aside from Apple’s phones and earbuds, that don’t ship with standard USB chargers.

Laptops still ship with various power bricks/connectors.

Re: India follows EU's example in requiring USB-C charging for smart devices

#142
post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think you understand: It has to be USB-C or better. So if USB-D (or a worse name knowing the consortium) comes out, the idea behind the law is that it should also be allowed _instead_ of a USB-C port. IANAL though, so I am unsure how well they legally described that requirement.

> It has to be USB-C or better What's the definition of "better". If Lightning is worse, then based on which criteria?

> then based on which criteria?

Based on "It’s not USB".

Re: India follows EU's example in requiring USB-C charging for smart devices

#143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The law allows newer standards to be used. USB-C is just the required minimum. The goal of the law is to ensure standardization of connectors is happening, not to enforce USB-C forever. If "no laws" would be the solution, Apple would have switched to USB-C already. Unfortunately they didn't, proving the law was necessary.

> law allows newer standards to be used. USB-C is just the required minimum Nobody is going to put two ports on a phome. Required minimum is the legislated maximum for physical interfaces.

Apple just started doing that. It put usb-c on the newer macbooks along with its old/back from the dead magnetic connector.

Re: India follows EU's example in requiring USB-C charging for smart devices

#144
post #28
post #8

I'm sure I'm not the first person to raise this concern but when tech improves to the point where there's a better option to USB C (or USB C is holding back other advances), are we going to have to wait for legislation to catch up before we can adopt it?

Why would that be a problem at all? If a significant advance in charging connectors is made, they can simply amend the law. These laws don't say you can't make better chargers, they say if you make a mass produced device from the provided categories and it's going to charge by cable you will need to make sure that it has at least one USB-C charging port. Besides, this is only in EU(and India now). Sure, there's a Bru…

> If a significant advance in charging connectors is made, they can simply amend the law.

Also, I'm not sure what the Indian law says, but at least the EU version actually requires review of current technologies every 5 years.

Re: India follows EU's example in requiring USB-C charging for smart devices

#145
post #116
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The EU is already monitoring wireless charging and will step in the same way if there isn't an industry-wide standard soon.

isn't Qi a widely adopted standard already? what exactly are they monitoring?

Tell that to Apple Watch charger.

Re: India follows EU's example in requiring USB-C charging for smart devices

#146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because anyone with experience with the political process knows it’s an absolute nightmare and prone to being extremely slow to react to changes.

Apparently Apple is even slower than the slow bureaucrats

Your comment misses the point of the entire discussion. No one has even claimed that Apple was merely slow. It was pure profit motive.

Re: India follows EU's example in requiring USB-C charging for smart devices

#147

I have a gaming laptop, that won't work with USB C, right? EDIT: looks like that's not going to change

If it pulls more than 240W from the wall it can use USB-C PD, though common chargers only go up to (or just a bit over) 100W.

There is an option for more than one USB-C port.

Chargers for 240W will appear eventually, standard was approved few months ago.

Re: India follows EU's example in requiring USB-C charging for smart devices

#148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The law does not apply to all electronic devices. The law only applies to consumer handhelds. That’s mobile phones, tablets, e-readers, earbuds, digital cameras, headphones and headsets, handheld videogame consoles and portable speakers. And at a later date, laptops. It’s hard to think of any popular devices in those categories, aside from Apple’s phones and earbuds, that don’t ship with standard USB chargers.

Laptops still ship with various power bricks/connectors.

For high power laptops, the relevant USB-PD versions with sufficient wattage are too recent to have penetrated all product lines. But I haven’t seen a new laptop without usb-c charging in a long time. Even laptops that ship with their own bricks support slower usb-c charging as well (this will still be allowed by the EU law). Maybe you can identify a couple that don’t. I wonder how much market share they have and if they even matter.

Re: India follows EU's example in requiring USB-C charging for smart devices

#149

Given that this whole thing was about forcing one bad player, Apple, to do the right thing, why not sunset these laws in five to ten years? That way, future innovators don’t have to first get this requirement repealed. USB-C is not the be-all end-all of charging ports. Note for example the female connector with the fragile plastic piece in the middle. Better alternatives will emerge but now they have to pass through…

Because we already know what happens when a common port is not mandated. Seriously, before this law was put in place, Europe had been asking companies to agree on a common charging port for more than a decade. The first Memorandum of Understanding on the subject was signed in 2009. Amusingly Apple did sign it before deciding to simply ignore it. That was followed by a directive in 2014 and an impact assessment in 201…

In its first incarnation the industry proposed micro USB as a charging standard. I think we can agree that's a pretty poor choice, connectors that break easily, only go in one way, and low power. So Apple was right to ignore it.

We would have been stuck with micro USB for eternity if it wasn't for Apple. I realise they may not have objected out of the kindness of their hart, but good thing they did.

Re: India follows EU's example in requiring USB-C charging for smart devices

#150
I fail to see the good in this sort of government overreach. Almost all devices in the market are already using USB C. IPhone market share must be less than 5% in India. You can simply opt to buy the remaining 95% of phones.

Now consider in three years One plus or some other company comes up with a new standard that is way more efficient and better than USB C. But they cannot use it in their phones. They are forced by law to not compete in this area.

So there's no good at all, but tremendous potential to stall future innovation.

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