BBC: UK will not copy EU demand for common charging cable
The UK government says it is not "currently considering" copying European Union plans for a common charging cable.
The EU has provisionally agreed all new portable electronic devices must, by autumn 2024, use a USB Type-C charger, a move it says will benefit consumers.
[....] Under the current post-Brexit arrangements, the regulation would apply to Northern Ireland, according to EU and UK officials.
[....] Since the EU's announcement, it had been uncertain if the decision could affect Apple products sold in the UK and other non-EU countries in Europe.
But a UK government spokesperson has told MailOnline: 'We are not currently considering replicating this requirement.'
[....] This complicates things for Apple; the firm might have to make devices with USB-C ports to sell in EU countries and Northern Ireland, as well as making devices with a Lightning ports to sell in the UK and other non-EU countries.
To simplify things, Apple could just opt to make devices with USB-C ports in the whole of Europe.
9 to 5 Mac: UK won't follow EU in demanding iPhone replace Lightning with USB-C
[....] However, many are awaiting the arrival of a USB-C port to match their other devices. Apple's Lightning port is already 10 years old and was previously dubbed as the "modern connector for the next decade." According to this notion, it seems inevitable to see Lightning retired soon.
[....] The pressure to switch to USB-C has been mounting on Apple for some time. It's no surprise the EU has made this decision. Could we see more regions do the same? With Lightning being a decade-old port, many are going to grow tired of the lack of a USB-C port on their iPhone.
Or, another idea: Apple could standardize on USB-C?
Remember twenty years ago when every mobile phone had a different charge connector? Even different models within a single manufacturer. Expensive to replace, you hoped you never lost one. Don't forget every single charger when packing for a trip!
See Also:
USB-C to be Mandatory for Phones Sold in the EU by Autumn 2024
Related Stories
USB-C to be mandatory for phones sold in the EU by autumn 2024
The EU have agreed legislation, alternate link, forcing all future smartphones sold in the EU — including Apple's iPhone — be equipped with USB-C port for wired charging by autumn 2024. The rule will also apply to other electronic devices including tablets, digital cameras, headphones, handheld video game consoles, and e-readers. Laptops will have to comply with the rule at a later date.
The legislation still needs to be approved by the EU Parliament and Council later this year, but this appears to be a formality. In a press release, the European Parliament stated clearly that the law will be in place "by autumn 2024." By this date, all devices covered by the law and sold in the EU will have to use USB-C for wired charging.
EU Agrees Single Mobile Charging Port in Blow to Apple
EU agrees single mobile charging port in blow to Apple:
Apple (AAPL.O) will have to change the connector on iPhones sold in Europe by 2024 after EU countries and lawmakers agreed on Tuesday to a single mobile charging port for mobile phones, tablets and cameras in a world first.
The political intervention, which the European Commission said would make life easier for consumers and save them money, came after companies failed to reach a common solution.
Brussels has been pushing for a single mobile charging port for more than a decade, prompted by complaints from iPhone and Android users about having to switch to different chargers for their devices.
Apple to put USB-C connectors in iPhones to comply with EU rules
Apple will ditch the Lightning connector on its iPhones, the company has confirmed, after European regulators decided all smartphones should have USB charging as standard in two years' time.
New EU rules require all phones sold after autumn 2024 to use the USB-C connector for their charging ports. The oval-shaped plugs are already standard on other consumer electronics such as e-readers, games consoles, laptops and the vast majority of new Android phones.
[...] Now, Apple's head of marketing, Greg "Joz" Joswiak, says the company is conceding defeat. "Obviously we'll have to comply, we have no choice," he told a technology conference in California.
But, he argued, it "would have been better environmentally and better for our customers to not have a government be that prescriptive".
Related:
UK Will Not Copy EU Demand for Common Charging Cable
USB-C to be Mandatory for Phones Sold in the EU by Autumn 2024
Apple May Finally Fix its Flimsy iPhone Charger Cables
India follows EU's example in requiring USB-C charging for smart devices
India is on a path to require USB-C charging ports in almost all smart devices following actions taken by an inter-ministerial task force.
Rohit Kumar Sing, Secretary of the Department of Consumer Affairs, said the move is "in the interest of consumer welfare and prevention of avoidable e-waste."
The broad consensus in the meeting was that USB-C would be required for electronic devices like smartphones, tablets, and laptops – but "feature phones" could end up with a different charging option. A sub-committee was formed to determine the fate of wearable devices.
But things won't change overnight. The move toward USB-C will be done in phases to ensure industry and consumers alike have time to adapt.
Previously: USB-C to be Mandatory for Phones Sold in the EU by Autumn 2024
UK Will Not Copy EU Demand for Common Charging Cable
Apple to Put USB-C Connectors in iPhones to Comply With EU Rules
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2022, @10:26PM (3 children)
Once a great empire, now a puppet regime of corporate USA.
Anything to drive another stake through the heart of UK-EU relations.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2022, @10:28PM (1 child)
It literally doesn't matter. The ball is in Apple's court. They will either make a special iPhone for the EU or switch to USB-C everywhere like all Android smartphones.
(Score: 3, Touché) by DannyB on Tuesday June 14 2022, @05:30PM
Apple could make Android phones like everyone else does.
(ducks, hides under desk)
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 14 2022, @07:26PM
Yay freedom! I get to keep my Cadillac gold plated power cable(s) (one per device).
(Score: 5, Insightful) by RedGreen on Monday June 13 2022, @10:37PM (15 children)
The UK will get whatever everyone else in Europe gets, no manufacturer is going to make a special model for them fools. How is Putin's plan for chaos, the Brexit, going morons? I see that clown Boris gets ready to ramp up the drama once more with the Northern Ireland accords. Now if they could just get on standardizing the batteries used in the power tools, christ what a mess those are to deal with even within the same brand you have different incompatible voltages used at times.
"I modded down, down, down, and the flames went higher." -- Sven Olsen
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 13 2022, @10:48PM
Exactly, we were offered a seat at the table and squandered it because "we're special"... Now we'll be subjected to whatever the EU decides and we'll just get to swallow.
Come to think of it... maybe Boris' mom should have done that.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by krishnoid on Monday June 13 2022, @10:49PM (2 children)
You sure [arstechnica.com] about that?
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday June 14 2022, @03:19PM (1 child)
I don't get it.... Sounds like back in 2011, when the article was written and when they standardized on micro-USB, Apple complied.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Saturday June 18 2022, @01:53AM
Yeah ... but they did build and ship specialized hardware only for certain countries [cnet.com]. Back when the last connector change directive included the UK!
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Monday June 13 2022, @11:39PM (3 children)
It's going great! Boris is Prime Minister, Nigel Farage is being taken semi-seriously, the racists are happy because they got to exclude more brown people, and thus its main purposes were served.
Once you understand that politicians have figured out they can gain in popularity by throwing a portion of their own population under the bus, they're going to do that.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 14 2022, @07:56AM (1 child)
> because they got to exclude more brown people
Perhaps you didn't notice that the European population is predominantly caucasian?
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday June 14 2022, @11:36AM
Europe is mostly white (although not as white as you might think, many European countries have significant non-white minorities), but the clamor for Brexit came in part in response to refugees from Syria and North Africa fleeing into EU countries and racist Britons wanting to keep them out of Britain. UKIP in particular was trying to appeal to that sentiment.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 14 2022, @11:56AM
They are bound to find quickly there aren't many willing to drive the buses for a living. Wouldn't be a first [bbc.com]
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 14 2022, @01:37AM (5 children)
Considering the UK gets cars manufactured for their market that have right hand drive AND MPH speedometers, I think it is a big enough market to cater to those "fools".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 14 2022, @03:59AM
driving on the left is common in many parts of the Commonwealth, excluding Canada.
Aren't most speedometers digital these days? No crazier than having to adjust for US units when the rest of the world, generally, adopted metric decades ago.
(Score: 3, Informative) by RedGreen on Tuesday June 14 2022, @04:04AM (2 children)
"Considering the UK gets cars manufactured for their market that have right hand drive AND MPH speedometers, I think it is a big enough market to cater to those "fools"."
It is left hand drive when you drive on the left part of the road. My count of the jurisdictions in the world that do it were 57 as listed on this page, plenty enough for a market excluding they had their own car companies making them from the start. Something they do not have with the one size fits all approach Apple and the Android phone manufacturers take, Apple just happens to get screwed for their proprietary solution and get to use what the vast majority of phones and other devices use to charge.
https://international-license.com/blogs/news/in-what-countries-you-drive-by-the-left-side-of-the-road [international-license.com]
"I modded down, down, down, and the flames went higher." -- Sven Olsen
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 14 2022, @06:08AM
Steering wheels are normally on the opposite side as the direction of traffic. Therefore, left-hand traffic has right-hand drive and right-hand traffic has left-hand drive. The UK is a left-hand traffic jurisdiction with right-hand drive. The EU is mostly right-hand traffic with left-hand drive.
(Score: 3, Informative) by janrinok on Tuesday June 14 2022, @06:10AM
Nope - that is left hand traffic. Cars in the UK are right hand drive because it refers to the position of the steering wheel and driver's seat in the vehicle:
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Tuesday June 14 2022, @08:38AM
Every car I've seen has both mph and kph as an option, just as they have y-m-d and d-m-y as options. With speedo dials it's just a bit of plastic that's selected, whether you're selling to Canada or the US.
Japan and India are other major RHD markets, it's not just the UK that's the market.
But the crucial part is you can't really sell a LHD in the UK/Japan/Australia etc - its either RHD or don't sell. To reach the whole market you need to have both options.
You can however sell a USB-C phone in the UK, so why would you bother making both USB-C and non-USB-C.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 14 2022, @08:40AM
> How is Putin's plan for chaos, the Brexit, going morons?
Last time I looked, UK was backing Ukraine so doesn't look so strong for Putin. Meanwhile, we in UK get our democracy back. (Or do you think MEPs have any power to do anything?)
(Score: 2) by corey on Monday June 13 2022, @11:56PM (9 children)
I have an iPhone, which is my first one and I feel the lightning connector is superior to USB-C. Just seems much more robust. The plug (not receptacle) is solid and has pins embedded. USB-C has a wafer thin version of the same central spade.
Despite that, this decision seems to me to be more “omg we hate anything EU just becoz!!”.
Also someone above said Boris is a clown, finally this answers it for me! Have been trying to think what it is he looks like the whole time and that’s what it was. Just needs a big red nose.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 14 2022, @12:46AM
You're the whole damn circus.
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Tuesday June 14 2022, @01:03AM
Just have him drink enough at one of his Covid parties and the nose should shine brightly.
He sure has the hair already.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Tuesday June 14 2022, @01:45AM
This is what I've been wondering. Which connector is technically superior?
The lightning connector may be the better one, but Apple may have patents on it. If so, perhaps the EU should instead nationalize the lightning connector.
Or, maybe the lightning connector's traces are too exposed. If it touches a metal surface, can that create a short? If you accidentally shut it in a car door, and metal ends up touching all the traces on both sides, what would that do?
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Tuesday June 14 2022, @03:09AM
>The plug (not receptacle) is solid
Of the two, I'd much rather have a more solid receptacle. The cable is cheap and easy to replace. The socket, not so much.
Not sure how it compares to lightning, but from what I've seen the USB-C socket is a huge step up from micro - the socket itself is far more solid, and all the ones I've seen so far have twin structural through-pins to mount them to the circuit board and take the mechanical stress off the signal pins. You could find those on some micro ports as well, but they were pretty rare.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Tuesday June 14 2022, @05:41AM
I question the judgment of anybody who, at some point in their lives, decided that buying an iPhone was a good idea and actually went through with it.
Your opinion on the superiority of Apple products therefore has little value, because you're clearly biased.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by pTamok on Tuesday June 14 2022, @08:07AM (1 child)
While we are trading anecdotes:
I have had four lightning connector cables fail while an original USB-C still works fine. IPhone and non-iPhone charged daily. The Lightning socket may be 'better' (I have no opinion on that), but the more expensive cables are unreasonably delicate. In my highly biased experience.
In terms of the engineering, both are probably engineered for an adequate number of insertions and removals, and the sockets designed to be sufficiently robust, but there may be gotchas not thought about in the original designs.
From my point of view, it does make sense for the cable to be the part of the system that is designed to take the wear and tear, as it is easily replaceable. I still want robust sockets that can be repaired or replaced - possibly even modular, that don't need special tools.
So:
- simple, cheap, adequate cable, designed to fail before the socket.
- robust socket, allowed to cost more, but easily replaceable, as a reasonable cost
- robust and well designed connection of the socket to the circuit board that allows unproblematic replacement of socket. Preferably without soldering, or at least without relying on the solder of the data-carrying connections as the physical connection.
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Tuesday June 14 2022, @08:30AM
Are they more expensive? Who knows. There is no single USB-C cable, there seems to be dozens of chargers and cables which don't interoperate with each other.
A Lightning cable, or a USB-micro either is or isn't.
A USB-cable may support charging, or may not, it may provide higher power, or not. Some do thunderbolt, some do hdmi, some do charging, some don't do any. Manufacturing cost is far higher as it requires various different types of chips, the opportunity for the public to be ripped off is massive
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 14 2022, @12:02PM
Yeah, the joke is on the Brits though, whether they realize it or not.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday June 14 2022, @05:35PM
It is said the decision was to eliminate e-waste by having only one uniform charger for all. There can be only one. Instead of every phone having a different charger like twenty years ago.
Despite what they claim the reason for the decision was, I think the real reason for the decision was . . .
everyone was tired of hearing someone stand up and shout "does anyone have a charging cable for Apple?"
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Tuesday June 14 2022, @05:37AM (5 children)
That's the convenient thing: the universal USB-C port will trickle down to the UK as a result of the EU mandating it without the UK having to decide anything.
Manufacturers will simply make USB-C devices by default for all markets as a result of having to service the EU market. They're not gonna make proprietary charger port versions of their products, even for China or the US - simply for the economy of scale - and they certainly won't bother making anything special for a single tiny island country sitting right next to the EU.
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Tuesday June 14 2022, @08:15AM (2 children)
One of the many lies of brexit. Now instead of being able to vote against this in the EU, the UK will have to blindly accept it.
(Score: 1) by pTamok on Tuesday June 14 2022, @12:50PM (1 child)
Not exactly. The UK can choose to accept the standard, or not. The problem is, choosing not to makes things difficult and expensive for the UK, which is interpreted by die-hard Brexiters as the EU punishing the UK for daring to be different.
The UK has chosen not to have an input into the EU standards-setting process. Which is fine. What is not fine is then complaining about the standards the EU then sets, independently of the UK.
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Tuesday June 14 2022, @06:29PM
With this specific it's possible the UK could choose either the US or China as a master instead of the EU - after all the phones are all shipped from China anyway, so ordering a US model phone rather than an EU model isn't a problem, and most of the brexit lot are happy taking orders from the US as they aren't French.
That's assuming Apple continues to make 2 phone models.
For other stuff which are more Geographically related (food especialy), the UK cut its nose off to spite its face.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday June 14 2022, @05:38PM
Finally, at long last, we now have a single charging standard that will be here with us for the next ten thousand years!
Google for: why are American railroad tracks so narrow
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 14 2022, @07:36PM
> Manufacturers will simply make USB-C devices by default for all markets as a result of having to service the EU market.
Yah but the British one will have measurements in inches rather than millicentipedes or whatever French junk they use on the continent.