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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: 3, Insightful) by Nuke on Thursday January 16 2020, @02:24PM (4 children)
FTFA :
I don't need innovation in a phone charging connector.
And how the hell does Apple explain how a standard connector is bad for the environment and disruptive to customers? As it is, every time I buy a new small gadget I get a new unique charger and lead with it, so I either throw a perfectly good old one away, or I put it in a box with the dozens of others that have been accumulating there for about the last 20 years. All their connectors are either some kind of small co-axial jack or some kind of USB, and none of them could not do anything that any of the others could as far as charging is concerned. The only innovation that has occured in charging in recent years is inductive charging, and that needs no connector anyway.
In fact I have two boxes : one full of chargers for things I no longer have, and one full of chargers for things I currently have. Waste of space and materials.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by theluggage on Thursday January 16 2020, @05:13PM (2 children)
Why do people always drag Apple into this when they're about the least worst offender? Apple have been shipping a common charger - a brick with a USB-A socket and detachable cable - with their iDevices since 2003 and, in all that time, have only used 3 different connectors on the iDevice end (the original 30 pin, Lightning and now USB-C on new iPads). I've frequently traveled with just an iPad brick and a couple of different cables to charge both Apple and non-Apple devices.
Even on Macs they've only had 2 variations on MagSafe (with adapters available) since 2006 and were one of the first to switch to USB-C (your mileage may vary... but it is standard) and current Mac power supplies have USB-C sockets on the brick...
Pretty sure power bricks waste more resources than cables...
Its now pretty common across phone manufacturers to have a USB socket on the brick and either micro-USB or USB-C on the device, but Apple have been ahead of the game when it comes to common power supplies, while the EU seem quite happy for power bricks to have captive micro USB cables that can't be changed...
If the EU wants to do something: ban the bundling of power supplies with devices full stop. Gives manufacturers an incentive to use standard connectors and stops them gouging for replacements, gives users an incentive to re-use old ones and breaks the deadlock of no manufacturer wanting to be the first one not to include a PSU (although I'm amazed that Apple, the nickel-and-dime masters, haven't already done that).
...but, really, it's a solved problem in the smartphone world now. Unlike the number of discarded handsets...
I think there's a point being missed here - the sound-activated singing fish went straight in the trash in 2003 (along with the 'hover board', the musical lava lamp, the rechargeable spaghetti winder, the super-fast 56k modem, 3 Zip drives and the amazing 1 Megapixel digital camera, the Sharp Zaurus, 4-port USB 1.0 hub, Asus EEEPC, Creative Nomad, Casio VL-tone, micro helicopter, VHS rewinder and one PCMCIA card with two DIN sockets, a corkscrew and a 'laser radiation' sticker) and is already perfusing through the oceans causing salmon to starve while trying to sing "I Will Survive" (or whatever), but because people think the PSU ought to be useful it goes in the box and, 20 years later, you worry about how many PSUs are going to waste (there's probably enough copper in those old PSUs for them to be worth recycling...) and forget that each was once the loving partner of an incredible gadget...
(Score: 2) by toddestan on Saturday January 18 2020, @02:02AM (1 child)
Maybe because Apple actually has a pretty terrible track record? Computers purposely designed to not be upgradeable - starting with the original Mac? All-in-one computers where you have to throw out a perfectly good monitor when the computer part becomes obsolete? Laptops where everything is soldered and whole thing, including battery is glued together? Setting completely arbitrary minimum requirements on OS upgrades to purposely cut off support for perfectly good hardware after only a few years?
Apple was also the pioneer on sealing batteries into devices so they couldn't be replaced, starting with the original iDevices in 2003. Not a single iDevice has ever used a standard charging port, always requiring some special propriety fruitcake Apple-only connector. Maybe excusable back in 2003 though I would argue mini-USB was already established as a standard most were using, but complete bullshit 10 years ago. Ditto for today where every phone is either USB-C, microUSB, or a special snowflake Apple connector.
How about having the "courage" to remove the 3.5mm jack, with the Apple solution being AirPods which are completely and utterly disposable with no way to possibly replace the battery?
Also, don't forget Apple doing their best to shut down third party repair services, as they don't want people repairing their products but instead throwing them away and buying new Apple products.
(Score: 2) by theluggage on Saturday January 18 2020, @06:47PM
I wasn't suggesting that Apple are environmental saints - but this thread is about phone power supplies, and in that respect criticising Apple who were using USB-A charging bricks back when other manufacturers didn't even use the same connector on different models is nonsense.
Anyway, you missed my main point for the sake of turning this into an Apple hate-in: chargers and batteries are the tip of the iceberg when (e.g.) people are still buying a whole new phone every 18 months because that's what the phone makers' contract-based business model encourages. Personally, I tend to keep my phones for at least 3-4 years (and would still be using a 6-year-old Android phone if it hadn't been rendered unreliable by a software "update" a couple of years back).
Repairability is something that a few "maker" types - and certain websites run by companies who make money selling tools - obsess about, and its certainly a good thing... but there's an aspect of supply and demand there, sad reality is that too many of us, when our phone or laptop goes phut, think "whohoo! new phone time!".
All that glue and non-replaceable batteries? Yes, there's an element of planned obsolescence there, but the big driver is that consumers are gagging for everything to be thinner and lighter -and gluing a 'bare' battery into the case saves a lot of space and weight c.f. the spring-loaded contacts, hinges, catches, flaps, whatever needed to make a battery compartment, plus the protective case you have to put around the potential lithium bomb that is a modern battery to make it safe for muggles to handle. Perhaps we should start demanding bigger phones?
...and those pesky all-in-one Macs? Sure, Apple are no angels, and I don't much like their current laptops, but for the last 10 years or so, the bulk of consumer PC sales have consisted of laptops and 2-in-1s, none of which win any repairability prizes. Sure, some of them are more repairable/upgradeable than Macs (and others are worse [ifixit.com]) but all laptops take their displays, keyboards, batteries etc. to the grave with them, and PCs and Androids outnumber Macs and iPhones many-to-one.
Anyway, you're not going to save the planet by forcing Apple to drop the pimple on the tip of the e-waste iceberg that is Lightning. Something much broader is needed to stem the stream of pointless, ephemeral junk being manufactured. Focussing on Apple smacks of regulatory capture. That said, Apple are probably briar-patching anyway, so they can blame the EU for all the Lightning landfill when they go USB-C or all-wireless.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Thursday January 16 2020, @09:24PM
Same way Trump accuses people of ... pretty much anything? Wait, that's it! They're leaking a new product, the iProjection -- show your iPhone screen on any surface! It's genius-bar none.