EU finalizes charger rule forcing USB-C on iPhones in 2024
The European Union has given its final approval to the common charger directive, a plan that will force Apple and other electronics producers to use USB-C by 2024.
A USB-C cable.
The long-debated plan by the EU to introduce a common charger for producers of small electronics and notebooks has passed its final major hurdle. On Monday, ministers of the EU Council finalized approval of the common charger directive.
Under the plan, USB-C ports will become mandatory on devices, with the logic that a single connector type will allow a charger to be used by multiple devices. This is thought to improve consumer convenience and to significantly reduce electronic waste.
By 2024, it will become mandatory for mobile phones, tablets and e-readers, cameras, game consoles, headphones, wireless mice and keyboards, and portable navigation systems to recharge using USB-C. All notebooks will also be covered by the rules 40 months after the directive comes into force.
As part of the directive, consumers will be able to choose whether to purchase new devices with or without a charger. Four years after coming into force, the European Commission will determine whether an unbundling of chargers should become mandatory.
Following the approval, the legislative act has to be signed by the President of the European Parliament and the President of the Council, then be published in the Official Journal of the European Union. 20 days later, the rules will come into force, and will start to apply to manufacturers 24 months later.
"We all have at least three mobile phone chargers at home. Looking for the right charger, either at home or at work, can be quite annoying," said Minister for Industry and Trade Jozef Sikela. "On top of this, these chargers amount to 11,000 tonnes of e-waste every year. Having a charger that fits multiple devices will save money and time and also helps us reduce electronic waste."
Apple has yet to publicly discuss the move following the EU's finalization, but it did previously argue against the change. In 2020, Apple insisted a regulation forcing conformity on connectors "stifles innovation rather than encouraging it, and would harm consumers in Europe and the economy as a whole."
The company has slowly been shifting towards USB-C across its hardware, with the iPhone the last to start making the transition.
The Commission's work isn't complete, however, as it will still look at harmonizing wireless charging technologies for devices. This change may impact MagSafe, Apple's modified form of the prevalent Qi wireless charging standard.
Read on AppleInsider
A USB-C cable.
The long-debated plan by the EU to introduce a common charger for producers of small electronics and notebooks has passed its final major hurdle. On Monday, ministers of the EU Council finalized approval of the common charger directive.
Under the plan, USB-C ports will become mandatory on devices, with the logic that a single connector type will allow a charger to be used by multiple devices. This is thought to improve consumer convenience and to significantly reduce electronic waste.
By 2024, it will become mandatory for mobile phones, tablets and e-readers, cameras, game consoles, headphones, wireless mice and keyboards, and portable navigation systems to recharge using USB-C. All notebooks will also be covered by the rules 40 months after the directive comes into force.
As part of the directive, consumers will be able to choose whether to purchase new devices with or without a charger. Four years after coming into force, the European Commission will determine whether an unbundling of chargers should become mandatory.
Following the approval, the legislative act has to be signed by the President of the European Parliament and the President of the Council, then be published in the Official Journal of the European Union. 20 days later, the rules will come into force, and will start to apply to manufacturers 24 months later.
"We all have at least three mobile phone chargers at home. Looking for the right charger, either at home or at work, can be quite annoying," said Minister for Industry and Trade Jozef Sikela. "On top of this, these chargers amount to 11,000 tonnes of e-waste every year. Having a charger that fits multiple devices will save money and time and also helps us reduce electronic waste."
Apple has yet to publicly discuss the move following the EU's finalization, but it did previously argue against the change. In 2020, Apple insisted a regulation forcing conformity on connectors "stifles innovation rather than encouraging it, and would harm consumers in Europe and the economy as a whole."
The company has slowly been shifting towards USB-C across its hardware, with the iPhone the last to start making the transition.
The Commission's work isn't complete, however, as it will still look at harmonizing wireless charging technologies for devices. This change may impact MagSafe, Apple's modified form of the prevalent Qi wireless charging standard.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
All of my mobile phone, tablet, keyboard, trackpad, and AirPod chargers use lightning. All of those lightning chargers and cables will go in the trash once I start having to buy devices that use USB-C rather than lightning. So at least in my household, e-waste will be going up as a result of this law, not down.
Historically, the real problem with chargers and cables was in the non-Apple world, with all the goofy and pointless variations. I suppose this law/rule will help with that situation, but I think it does more harm than good for Apple customers.
I don't plan on replacing some of my lightning devices for a long time yet. Keyboards and Trackpads are not devices that get upgraded regularly by a lot of people.
The rule only applies to phones that charge with a wire. It does not apply to phones that charge wirelessly.
Now, I suspect that Apple will move the iPhone to USB-C, as Apple is already starting to phase out the lighting connector. However, it is incorrect to say that the EU rule is forcing Apple to do this.
By the time the EU mandate goes into effect, USB-C will be 10 years old, and it will be 14 years old by the time the EU re-evaluates its decision. So the EU bureaucrats, in their infinite wisdom, have tethered all of us to a connector that's already a dinosaur in terms of technological age. Plus, they've killed any incentive for tech companies to bring a next gen connector to market since we're stuck with USB-C for the foreseeable future. True, the EU is mandating USB-C for charging only, but if we have to start carrying around two different cables--one for charging and a more advanced connector for data transfer--this whole initiative will be completely pointless.
If Apple were planning on shipping a MacBook with only MagSafe and no USB-C then they've been derailed, sure. But if you think USB-C is going away any time soon, even in an alternative universe where this regulation didn't exist, then you're in cloud cuckoo land. Hell, there are people still sore that Apple's notebooks don't have a USB-A port, as some other manufacturers' do, and that's over 25 years old.
And if the EU see another universal charging port gaining ground then the regulation can be revised. Not a big deal.
I'm wondering, for cars made/sold in the EU, whether such cars will have to remove or supplement their USB-A connectors with USB-C connectors.
I did a random sample of four new cars and found half of them still had only USB-A ports. The other half had USB-C only.
And yes I still have that old junk Apple cables with wide connector for their first generations mobile devices. I did not complain when they switched to Lightning or when they ditched that Firewire/IEEE1394 to replace with USB that was supposedly inferior to theirs and so much fought for by Apple cult fans. Yet we are on USB and USB-C is just the next logic step with all what Apple does.