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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.
iPhones are charged from a Lightning cable, while Android-based devices use USB-C connectors.
Half the chargers sold with mobile phones in 2018 had a USB micro-B connector, while 29% had a USB-C connector and 21% a Lightning connector, according to a 2019 Commission study.
"By autumn 2024, USB Type-C will become the common charging port for all mobile phones, tablets and cameras in the EU," the European Parliament said in a statement.
EU industry chief Thierry Breton said the deal would save around 250 million euros ($267 million) for consumers.
"It will also allow new technologies such as wireless charging to emerge and to mature without letting innovation become a source of market fragmentation and consumer inconvenience," he said.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by janrinok on Wednesday June 08 2022, @05:29AM (2 children)
This raises another interesting question. Will Apple simply continue with their Lightning connector but include the Lightning-to-USBC adaptor for free in Europe, or will they actually redesign future 'phones to simply accept USBC? It would depend, I suppose on how the law is written - it might simply stipulate that it must 'accept' a standard USBC charger or, alternatively, expressly say that the USBC connector must be integral to the device itself.
The former would allow Apple to continue to enforce sales of their own charger outside of Europe, whereas the latter would make things significantly easier for the users who wouldn't have to worry about a special converter cable. I suspect the former as Apple is more interested in profit rather than user convenience which, as a business, is what they obligated to do.
Perhaps the cry in the future will change to 'does anyone in the office have a IPhone converter cable?'.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Wednesday June 08 2022, @05:34AM
Yes, I've read TFA. I know that Apple are working on a phone with a USBC connector, but that doesn't mean that they might not seek an alternative solution to this law if it will help their long-term profits.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday June 08 2022, @04:18PM
That is a business decision they choose to make, not one they are obligated to make.
All they have to do is tell their shareholders that quality is more important than lock-in and presto-changeo, they are no longer obligated to pursue lock in. That applies to literally any decision they make, including putting profit over literally everything else (which no company is dumb enough to promise in the first place).