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The European Parliament is fed up with e-waste—in particular, charging cables. To fix the problem, lawmakers are debating a binding measure that would force gadget makers to use a standardised charging port.
This isn't the first time we've seen this from Europe. One reason why microUSB is so prevalent is back in 2009, the European Commission pushed for it as a universal standard on the continent. Even Apple, the notorious standout in the world of proprietary chargers, acquiesced and made available a microUSB adaptor. (Of course, it was Europe-only).
Once that initiative expired in 2014, European lawmakers tried again to force a common charger, reiterating that it would be not only convenient for consumers, but would also limit e-waste.
The only problem was the initiative called for a "voluntary approach"—a strategy that in a briefing, the European Parliament said has "not yielded the desired results" and "fell short of the co-legislators' objectives." And, while the briefing doesn't specify exactly what port type it has in mind, at this point, USB-C is the likeliest contender.
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In 2018, European lawmakers conducted an inception impact assessment [PDF] on the idea of a common charger and called for feedback from manufacturers. In January last year, Apple provided it.In its statement, Apple contends that "regulations that would drive conformity across the type of connector built into all smartphones freeze innovation rather than encourage it. Such proposals are bad for the environment and unnecessarily disruptive for customers."
(Score: 5, Informative) by Zinho on Thursday January 16 2020, @12:24PM (2 children)
That's why USB C chargers have USB PD [wikipedia.org] as a feature - the ability to ramp up to 20V neatly solves the issues of current across the cable and preferred charging voltage, since they're negotiated between the charger and the device. Granted, my 15W phone charger won't keep up with the power demands of a Crysis benchmark on your gaming laptop; however, 100W USB PD adapters [amazon.com] can be had for ~$50, and will also charge my phone just fine. Any PD compliant laptop should be able to eat power from any compliant USB-C charger without burning the cable or destroying the power supply.
Honestly, having the same power connector for both my phone and laptop is brilliant, and so far I have no complaints about the situation.
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 17 2020, @12:32AM (1 child)
At worst make it 2 or 3 charging ports. So if you use 1 then low power normal mode. Plug in second or third then more than snotty power.
No different then the extra leads hang off an internal PSU
(Score: 2) by Zinho on Friday January 17 2020, @01:03AM
Not a problem.
Want to buy it all as a standalone package? It'll cost about $100. [amazon.com]
Already have a 100W charger and want to split it out to charge multiple devices? That's about $40. [amazon.com]
Just want to charge a bunch of phones? You can get 60W split 4 ways for about $30. [amazon.com]
You can have what you want. Just remember that safe power handling costs money. You can probably get Chinese knockoffs of these products cheaper on eBay or AliExpress, but don't be surprised when you get shocked or your house burns down.
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin