{"id":33730,"date":"2021-09-24T16:50:13","date_gmt":"2021-09-24T20:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=33730"},"modified":"2021-10-20T16:36:01","modified_gmt":"2021-10-20T20:36:01","slug":"european-union-usb-c-mandate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2021\/09\/24\/european-union-usb-c-mandate\/","title":{"rendered":"European Union USB-C Mandate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tom Warren<\/a> (tweet<\/a>, Hacker News<\/a>):<\/p>\n

The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, has announced plans<\/a> to force smartphone and other electronics manufacturers to fit a common USB-C charging port on their devices. The proposal is likely to have the biggest impact on Apple, which continues to use its proprietary Lightning connector rather than the USB-C connector adopted by most of its competitors. The rules are intended to cut down on electronic waste by allowing people to re-use existing chargers and cables when they buy new electronics.<\/p>\n

In addition to phones, the rules will apply to other devices like tablets, headphones, portable speakers, videogame consoles, and cameras.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

Efforts to get smartphone manufacturers to use the same charging standard in the EU date back to at least 2009, when Apple, Samsung, Huawei, and Nokia signed a voluntary agreement<\/a> to use a common standard. In the following years, the industry gradually adopted Micro USB and, more recently, USB-C as a common charging port. However, despite reducing the amount of charging standards from over 30 down to just three (Micro USB, USB-C, and Lightning), regulators have said this voluntary approach has fallen short of its objectives.<\/p>\n

Apple was a notable outlier in that it never included a Micro USB port on its phones directly. Instead, it offered a Micro USB to 30-pin adapter<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

I think Apple is right that mandating a connector will stifle innovation<\/a>. And I think that, in isolation, Lightning is a better<\/a> connector<\/a> than USB-C. However, it’s annoying that I have to carry multiple cables and adapters because, even with exclusively up-to-date Apple gear, my iPhone and AirPods don’t use the same connector as my MacBook Pro and iPad.<\/p>\n\n

Hartley Charlton<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The directive now needs to be greenlit by the EU Parliament and national governments, who may suggest amendments, before it can come into law. The European Commission hopes that this will occur in 2022. From that point, companies will have two years to transition to USB-C on their devices.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Steve Troughton-Smith<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

As somebody with an iPhone, iPad, and Kindle on his bedside table, all with different, incompatible, ports, I’m 1,000% behind standardizing on USB-C for everything. Apple had the chance to push the Lightning connector as standard for USB-C; maybe they’ll reconsider that next time<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

See also: Dithering<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n