I voted Remain in the UK back in 2016. But as an Apple user, I can't say hand-on-heart that I would do so now, with the shenanigans the EU is pulling with Apple.
It is a shame, as some of the EU regulations have been decent - like the USB-C support.
If you believe in free markets and no fraud is occurring, please tell how the EU setting a USB-C standard is a good thing. Shouldn’t companies be free to provide options. If the customers feel ripped off, they’ll buy an Erickson or Nokia. Oh wait, that didn’t work out too well. Did Apple cheat or just out compete? Since the EU has mandated USB-C, how will we ever get anything better? Oh yeah, the old Soviet model, what ever the government mandates is for the good of the people! Do you remember the US government mandating Windows for all us Government computers? How well did that work out? Innovation?
Nope! And if you had read up on why that requirement was put into place, you would know full well that the EU had tried for decades to harmonise the situation.
The requirement was due to fragmentation in charging options (and goes far beyond phones BTW).
You are giving the EU way too much credit (surprise!, surprise! surprise!) for fixing the fragmentation that existed with mobile phone chargers, pre-iPhone. Apple and Google deserves most of the credit, not some memorandum that mandated the use of a USB Micro port (by 2012) in 2010.
Before the iPhone (2007), most mobile phones owners did not need to be sync their "dumb" phone with a computer. Back then, syncing to a computer was mainly use for importing and editing contact info, without having to use the small number pad on the phone. Therefore most phones back then had a syncing port and a separate charging port. And the most common syncing cable had a serial DB9 interface on the computer end. Guess what a DB9 interface don't support? Charging.
But soon after the release of the iPhone, mobile phone companies were scrambling to catch up. And the fastest way was to use the free Open Source mobile OS from Google .... Android. And what did Android already support? The USB interface for data syncing and charging. So there was no longer a need to have a separate charge port on their mobile phones. By the time the EU charger memorandum was signed in 2010, by nearly all the mobile phone makers, the fragmentation of phone chargers was already fixing itself. All Android phones were already using either USB Mini or the newer USB Micro interface. With nearly all of them using USB Micro, before adopting USB C when it came out in 2015,
Apple also signed the memorandum and did not violate any of its mandates. Though many here think they did with them using their Lightning interface, instead of USB. With-in the memorandum, was a cause that allowed any mobile phone makers to adopt an interface that had better technology than the USB Micro (at the time). And it had to be more than just size of the port. Apple 30 pin dock connector and then Lightning, had far better tech than what USB Micro can offer. It is this clause that allowed for mobile phones makers to adopt USB C. If it weren't for this clause, Android phones would still be using USB Micro. Which was the standard set at the time the memorandum was adopted. The EU did not want to limit innovation by forcing mobile phone makers to adopt a standard whose interface was technologically inferior, to what was available or possible.
Lightning remained better technology than USB C with USB 1 protocol. USB C with USB 2 protocol mostly caught up with Lightning but Lightning still had its advantages. It wasn't until USB C with USB 3 protocol that Lightning began to show its age. Apple could no longer claim that Lightning was better technology than USB C. But still, a lot of the tech advantages of USB C with USB 3 protocol were for computers. It still took a year or two for hardware on mobile devices and mobile network, to evolve and benefit from those advantages. By this time, Apple had already planned to move on from Lightning. USB C had already been adopted on Apple high end iPads. Rumor had it that the iPhone would fully adopt USB C before 2026. But because of the EU, Apple adopted USB C about year earlier than they planned.
As for E-waste, Apple stopped supplying a charger with their iPhones back in 2020. Samsung soon followed about a year later, of course after making fun of iPhones no longer coming with a charger. (With most mobile phone makers following Apple lead more than 2 years later.) By the time the EU forced Apple to use the USB C port on their devices, a USB C charger could be used to charge an iPhone. Most iPhone users at the time were either re-using a Lightning charger they already had or they bought a USB C charger with a USB-C to Lightning cable. A USB C charger have a USB C port on the charger itself. One can use it to charge USB A, USB Mini, USB Micro and Apple Lightning devices, with the use of the compatible cable. (And one of high enough voltage and wattage, can also charge laptops.)The iPhone not having a USB C port was not causing any added E-waste. The E-waste being generated by the fragmentation of chargers on mobile phones, which was the main reason for the memorandum (2010), is with the charging brick. With most of them at the time, having an attached cable with a proprietary interface. Left alone, all mobile phones would had eventually adopted USB C, even without any EU memorandum to set USB C as the standard. Just like how they were all already migrating to the USB interface, before the memorandum (in 2010), thanks to Google offering for free ..... Android that supported USB and mobile phone companies having to make mobile phones that had to compete with Apple iPhones getting thinner and smarter. Natural competition and innovation would had taken care of chargers fragmentation (on mobile phones), soon enough.
No.
There were a huge amount of chargers on the market and the EU set about trying to resolve that without legislation.
That's why there was a MoU and it was relatively successful but over the years, not successful enough. Fragmentation continued.
I read the impact assessments all those years ago and don't remember much being said about syncing.
This time around, there is legislation (and more to come) and it covers far more than phones.
All with the same goal. To control the level of charging fragmentation within the portable electronic device sector.
I voted Remain in the UK back in 2016. But as an Apple user, I can't say hand-on-heart that I would do so now, with the shenanigans the EU is pulling with Apple.
It is a shame, as some of the EU regulations have been decent - like the USB-C support.
As a user in the EU I see zero problem with that approach. Sure we get less features but most of them will only be available with the latest devices anyway so not a huge loss for the vast majority of users. Also we do get things that other countries won't get like alternative App Strores. And of course we don't get the anti-features that UK would like their users to enjoy like broken privacy and security...
If Apple prefers to play hardball and reduce their own new device sales for people thinking like you, I can totally live with that as the vast majority of regulations provide quite a benefit and a cooldown of the Apple market would also reduce the device prices.
I voted Remain in the UK back in 2016. But as an Apple user, I can't say hand-on-heart that I would do so now, with the shenanigans the EU is pulling with Apple.
It is a shame, as some of the EU regulations have been decent - like the USB-C support.
Also we do get things that other countries won't get like alternative App Strores.
What have you personally downloaded from an alternative App Store? I’m curious what is available aside from porn apps, which is all I’ve seen any news about.
I agree. The EU has unfairly stacked the deck against Apple and is imposing on Apple much more unilaterally. Also, imbecile YouTubers should stop saying EU made Apple switch iPhones to USB C. Apple was the first to include USB on their iMac and has had USB C on their Macs AND iPads for many years. It was coming anyway, though it did get delayed a year, due to the Chinese C19 lockdowns. Apple just didn’t like being dictated to by a governmental body that is known for corruption and influence from heavy lobbying by Apple’s competition. Apple has gone too far in a few instances in the App Store rules, no question, but this is ridiculous.
I voted Remain in the UK back in 2016. But as an Apple user, I can't say hand-on-heart that I would do so now, with the shenanigans the EU is pulling with Apple.
It is a shame, as some of the EU regulations have been decent - like the USB-C support.
Also we do get things that other countries won't get like alternative App Strores.
What have you personally downloaded from an alternative App Store? I’m curious what is available aside from porn apps, which is all I’ve seen any news about.
Epic has their own store, and while I don't game, I'm pretty sure none of them are porn.
Is Fortnite available on iOS in the U.S.? Last I checked, only the EU gets that.
There's also Altstore, which may or may not include porn apps. I don't know. Everything I've needed so far has been available in the regular App Store.
Comments
There were a huge amount of chargers on the market and the EU set about trying to resolve that without legislation.
That's why there was a MoU and it was relatively successful but over the years, not successful enough. Fragmentation continued.
I read the impact assessments all those years ago and don't remember much being said about syncing.
This time around, there is legislation (and more to come) and it covers far more than phones.
All with the same goal. To control the level of charging fragmentation within the portable electronic device sector.
If Apple prefers to play hardball and reduce their own new device sales for people thinking like you, I can totally live with that as the vast majority of regulations provide quite a benefit and a cooldown of the Apple market would also reduce the device prices.