Europe plans to make USB-C a common charging solution

[lumireleon]

USB C is the best connector for human kind. Apple tried to circumvent the idea by a male type connector. Apple is not an angel and lets stand and clap for the EU committee. Wallstreet politicians should stop praising USA companies on anti-competitive/anti-consumer behaviors.

[kalniel]

USB C is the best connector for human kind.

Odd, I think humankind has been doing very well with a completely different connector for thousands of years...

[Mngereso]

To be fair, I prefer the Apple lightning connector to USB C as the centre of USB can snap out, especially when moomins try to stick the wrong charger in there, at least with lightning the bit that is most likely to break is the cable, which is cheaper and easier to swap than the port on a device..

I have honestly never heard or seen anyone have the centre of a USB-C connector just "snapping out", not that it can't happen but commenting on the incredible rarity that I, as an IT manager, have not seen/heard it happen. If someone is doing something that can make it snap out, they need to pay the numpty tax to get it fixed.

I am sure by 2024 Apple will transition to USB-C but if they don't, I would love to see Apple iPhone blocked in the EU simply to see how much chaos it will cause both economically, for Apple users and Apple themselves.

Lol, well said. Who TF is breaking off the center part of a Type C port? Never seen or even heard of that...

[[GSV]Trig]

Politics and stuff aside, I think that the lightning connector is better..

[Zak33]

Lol, well said. Who TF is breaking off the center part of a Type C port? Never seen or even heard of that...

reckon he already explained this...

[[GSV]Trig]

Lol, well said. Who TF is breaking off the center part of a Type C port? Never seen or even heard of that...

Clearly never worked with security guards or alarm engineers lol

[QuorTek]

You really got to be a clumsy muppet to break a USB-C and yes please some standards, and if Apple does not like it, they can leave the EU market and yes they can afford to do such, however I won't think the shareholders would be that happy.

Also stop trying to sell the same brand with new connectors and whatever hahaha... when it get to it, it is the same thing and there is hardly any innovation and new thinking in this changing the shape and name of things whenever it get to it.

[[GSV]Trig]

Yes they were, bear in mind a lot of these were minimum wage guys that get paid to drive between places and lock up, check a site and then move on to the next..

[Ttaskmaster]

Honestly, we all know why apple were complaining, it was purely about making sure iPhone users were locked into a propriety connector that Apple has full control of and (iirc) can charge manufacturers for compatible hardware etc.

^This!!

I have to say, the most common call you hear at our place is, "Has anyone got an iPhone charger??!!", so for that reason (and their stoopid* ringtone) I'm all in favour of the iMoomins being iLocked into their proprietary iCables.





*Seriously, do iPhone users simply never change it, or are they actually locked into using the iRingtone?
Always the same, that age-old sing-songy "Look - at - me... I've - got - an - Eye - Fone" tune.....

[Hoonigan]

I can honestly see Apple going fully wireless from 2024 onwards, with their iPhones at least.

[IAmATeaf]

I can honestly see Apple going fully wireless from 2024 onwards, with their iPhones at least.

Surely this must go against any green credentials they tout? After all wireless charging is no way as efficient as charging with a wire plugged into the phone.

[scunc]

Fully wireless - yep - that'll work well charging on any non flat surface / in a backpack.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned that Lightening is effectively stuck at USB 2 data speeds.
Good luck getting that hi-res new fangled video off the latest iphones using that before everyone else goes to the pub.

[LSG501]

Surely this must go against any green credentials they tout? After all wireless charging is no way as efficient as charging with a wire plugged into the phone.

You're forgetting that everything apple releases is 'magical' and will somehow that magic will charge the phones when plugged into the mains

[Iota]

Edit: What I *really* want to see is the EU standardising on removable Li-Ion battery packs. These things are sizeable, and I now have a stack of them along with their chargers. They all do the same thing, they are all completely incompatible and they are all a few years old and starting to lose some capacity. When the battery pack dies on my lawnmower the whole thing with go to the tip because Homebase don't make those Qualcast units or sell spare batteries. I should be able to go to the likes of Energizer or Duracell and just ask for a standard 36V battery pack like I can a pack of AA cells.

There don't seem to be many voltages, the Li-Ion chemistry sorts that out. Just need a standard physical dimensions, retention clip and connector.

Wouldn't that then cause issues with IP67/68 standards?

USB C is the best connector for human kind.

I find Lightning cables easier to insert than USB C, I find USB C cables easier to extract than Lightning cables. Mainly due to the sizing and having large hands.

Good luck getting that hi-res new fangled video off the latest iphones using that before everyone else goes to the pub.

Uploads to iCloud automatically with Wi-fi. Just saying.

The only issues I take with the EU doing this?

- What happens to all of the old chargers and cables? More e-waste.
- What happens when a better connector / transmission protocol comes along, is everyone stuck on the old one until the EU catches up?

We all know how slow the EU are at enacting anything. It's a bureaucracy, not a tech company or the USB consortium that creates these standards. Seriously, wouldn't that stifle innovation right there? I think it actually would. I've yet to see any evidence produced by the EU that all of these different charging standards produce the amount of e-waste they're touting, I've got various things that use USB C for charging, some of those are NOT interchangeable (such as my Amplifi router using USB C for power connection, but couldn't use that to charge my headset etc). Equally the part about limiting the amount of power for charging? Well I'd rather not have a battery explode because it's got a different rating for how quickly it should be charged, because right there would be more e-waste. That's the whole point of having the device request the PD supplied, so essentially the EU is also now trying to make up the USB standard themselves?

Sorry but no, too many caveats in this, the EU is simply wrong and interfering in things it doesn't understand due to being a bureaucracy and not a tech consortium that sets the standards.

[DanceswithUnix]

Fully wireless - yep - that'll work well charging on any non flat surface / in a backpack.

Don't Apple use magnets these days? ISTR reading about iPhone users putting a phone in their shirt pocket and the magnets turning off their pacemaker, so they must be pretty strong.

[DanceswithUnix]

Wouldn't that then cause issues with IP67/68 standards?

Sorry, I wasn't clearly marking my context switch there. That isn't a phone thing, though phone batteries could be part of it for the few devices where they happen to be removable.

I'm talking about my drill, impact driver, hedge trimmer, lawnmower, strimmer etc. These things all have removable battery packs. It's a "feature"; you can buy a naked drill without buying the battery and charger to keep you in their ecosystem. The drill came with two battery packs so you can use one while charging the other.

The thing is, eg the Bosch strimmer would use the same battery pack as my drill, except it looks to be a rubbish strimmer. So I bought another brand, and now have another cell pack and charger. Nearly all these devices are 18V (so 5 cells) and a very similar form factor.

Bosch have a proprietary "Power for All" 18v pack. Ryobi have a "One+" 18v battery for all their power tools. The packs from Black and Decker, DeWalt etc are similarly compatible across the entire range for that one brand and only that brand. I had to take a screwdriver to the Dyson to get the battery pack out, but once out it doesn't look much different to any of the others.

They could and should be standardised across all manufacturers. It is a clear anti consumer lock-in tactic.

The thing is, the whole USB-C thing is a non event as it was clearly happening anyway. Apple are lagging, but even they will probably come around to it when Apple users see how fast Android users can charge their phones on USB-C and demand a change. But this battery pack thing is getting entrenched, and is clearly a land-grab for users by the companies involved.