SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
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
(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.