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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, 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