The EU Wants All Phones to Work With Interoperable Chargers, Here’s What That Means for Apple's Lightning Port

[justperry]

I suggested the “new to build” option.

But you can’t argue “EU is multiple independent countries so they should all be allowed to make up their own standards for wall outlets” and then argue “EU has authority to make manufacturers selling into any of these independent countries use the same charge port.”
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You kind of can tell what the upper limit is based on the size of the wires and the spacing between them.

Wall outlets are much harder to change and cost a lot more if you have to change your whole house, they last for decades, a charger/phone lasts for less than a decade, in fact..just a few years.
You can't force people to change existing wall outlets, you can't force people to buy new phones but as I said, a phone lasts just a few years, by then the standard is there.

I agree it's not the way it should be, it should be standardised, the problem is, who (Which standard plug/country) gives in!
The EU is still an infant, it might take decades to grow up...if ever, lots of differences.

 

[NickName99]

I’ve been using standard USB-C chargers with my iPhones since the iPhone 8. This changes nothing.

 

[Mailia]

Whether you throw them away now or throw them away in 15 years they are still going to end up in a landfill. But now you get to buy all new cords because EU says so.

I already got to buy new cords and EU didn't have anything to do with it. I had to buy brand new Lightning cables because I switched from a phone that had an USB-C connector and literally no cable in my house would charge my iPhone.

You know what I didn't do? Throw away my USB-C cables, because they're still extremely useful. My laptop charges with USB-C, my headphones charge with USB-C, my backup phone charges with USB-C and probably the next device with a chargeable battery that I buy will charge with a USB-C connector.

 

[CarlJ]

... make the customer experience better in one FOUL swoop.

If you're going to get an idiom wrong, it helps to not capitalize the incorrect word as it tends to draw attention to your mistake. It's, "one fell swoop."

 

[cmaier]

Wall outlets are much harder to change and cost a lot more if you have to change your whole house, they last for decades, a charger/phone lasts for less than a decade, in fact..just a few years.
You can't force people to change existing wall outlets, you can't force people to buy new phones but as I said, a phone lasts just a few years, by then the standard is there.

I agree it's not the way it should be, it should be standardised, the problem is, who (Which standard plug/country) gives in!
The EU is still an infant, it might take decades to grow up...if ever, lots of differences.

You can’t have it both ways - if they last for decades, the one-time charge to fix it averages out to nothing in the long run. Plus you can force people to have the new standard outlet in new construction.

You also can’t have it both ways - phones iterate faster, because technology moves faster, which is exactly the reason you should NOT standardize. The time to standardize is when innovation STOPS, not when it’s in full flight.

 

[Justanotherfanboy]

Yeah, they want to take our freedom away to have two chargers in our backpack instead of one. Those bastards!

(Would love to have the option to charge my phone while at work with the Macbook-charger.)

Lol, wow you’re their ideal dream citizen!
So eager to be subjugated...

If you let the government dictate exactly what innovations tech companies can even think about using- surely you see a down side??
As has been pointed out here: if a hypothetical “USB-D” became available the day after this thing ratified... being 1/2 the thickness, double the power & speed, & 1/10 the cost- you understand that it would be literally ILLEGAL for any company to offer it consumers in your country, yeah?
And please don’t hit me with an “I’m sure they’d quickly & efficiently change the law each and every time new tech comes along”... I think we all know the speed of government regulatory bodies (see TMUS/S merger for prime example). Further- any attempts at a new standard would find an impossible catch-22; that is- for the study to show that this was a worthy successor, they’d need adoption rate data to decide whether the “e-waste”, as they call it, would be worth it. However, how could it have an adoption rate when (again), such a product was illegal??
You think UBS-C would be in any devices at all if the tech had been available for the last 5 years... but it was illegal to sell devices offering it?

I’m sorry, but anyone in support of this baffles me... it’s beyond obvious that there’d be a severe tech innovation penalty here, & set a crazy precedent for super-controlling and invasive laws in the future.

 

[cmaier]

If you're going to get an idiom wrong, it helps to not capitalize the incorrect word as it tends to draw attention to your mistake. It's, "one fell swoop."

Carl, I know you love to correct grammar, but in this case you are wrong. It’s a foul swoop. It‘s an ancient idiom that derives from when Keith Hernandez used to dive to his left to grab ground balls just outside the first base line.

Not to be confused with a fowl swoop, which is when a carnivorous chicken dives from its aerie perch to scoop up prey in its fearsome talons.

 

[ericwn]

They offer it on the iPad Pro and MacBook. I don’t see the big deal bringing it also to the iPhone. Shouldn’t it make their own life easier. What a no brainer

Well said. Consistency in cables and ports makes for a better user experience which I often read Apple is so focussed on.

 

[bluecoast]

To get tech companies moving new products away from their own connectors to having them all use the USB-C & common wireless charging standard is surely a good thing.

As many have said, Apple’s arguments here seem disingenuous.

When Apple moved from the original 16 pin to lightening, they left behind loads of products that were compatible with the iPod and the first few iPhones & that then had to use 16 pin to lightening adaptors.

 

[Michael Scrip]

And by throwing out your lightning cables you are adding e-waste.

I guess we're gonna ignore all the e-waste we made from throwing out our Mini-USB and Micro-USB cables?

Where was the EU's concern about e-waste back then? Why didn't they protest the transition from Mini-USB to Micro-USB... and another transition from Micro-USB to USB-C?

I could still be using my Mini-USB cable from my old Blackberry on a smartphone today. But instead... I have a drawer full of Mini-USB cables and Micro-USB cables.

 

[bbednarz]

I already got to buy new cords and EU didn't have anything to do with it. I had to buy brand new Lightning cables because I switched from a phone that had an USB-C connector and literally no cable in my house would charge my iPhone.

You know what I didn't do? Throw away my USB-C cables, because they're still extremely useful. My laptop charges with USB-C, my headphones charge with USB-C, my backup phone charges with USB-C and probably the next device with a chargeable battery that I buy will charge with a USB-C connector.

And if Apple removes lightning those lightning cables will be obsolete in a couple years. Look, idc about the waste it will cause. Just think that’s a dumb reason for this change.

 

[epox999]

The iPad Pro has already made the switch to USB-C port, charger, cable. They should just adopt this for the next gen of the rest of their product line

 

[I7guy]

BAHA! Stifles innovation...

Oh yeah, then how come you jumped right on the USB-C bandwagon with other products? Having a bag full of dongles for a MacBook isn't wasteful or more expensive for the consumer? Doesn't having USB-C iPad produce more e-waste, considering that in of itself is not of the norm for tablets?

And I loved the "We do not believe there is a case for regulation given the industry is already moving to the use of USB Type-C through a connector or cable assembly" In that case, why even have a defence? They're admitting that other manufacturers are moving to USB-C anyhow, so what impact does it have on Apple whether they do with or without the EU's input?

Apple is so hypocritical sometimes its a complete joke. The only reason they won't make the move is for security; they don't want people plugging USB-C devices into their iPhones.

Where is the /s? To me this is a debacle and will create more issues and waste than it will resolve. I do not want USB-C on my iPhone. There is zero benefit.

 

[ericwn]

Dear idiots of the European Parliament, what about all the different wall plugs in Europe?

For example, most of Europe uses C or E/F type plugs, however in the UK and Ireland, you will only find type G sockets. In Italy, you might see a type L outlet, and in Switzerland, you might find a type J plug.

Being unable to resolve one issue shouldn’t lead the, to not try resolve another.

Generally speaking though, this has always bothered me too. We managed to have the same currency but fail at the power plug.

 

[Mailia]

We managed to have the same currency but fail at the power plug.

I can't take the electrical wiring of my house and have it exchanged at the bank.

 

[ericwn]

Politicians think more laws will solve the worlds problems

They’re following the corporations who believe that proprietary technology solves anything.

 

[mi7chy]

Lightning is designed to be fragile so Apple can profit off of recurring replacement cables and port repairs. If Apple is forced to adopt a universal reliable standard such as USB-C then there's no more incentive for Apple.

I'm all for universal USB-C plus it has USB-C to micro USB adapter for older devices.

 

[ericwn]

This is going to end poorly for the end user.

It already is poor for the end user.

 

[SDJim]

THIS IS SO STUPID

Reducing e-waste?? Really?? That is utterly indefensible. Reduce cost of WHAT??
Also, all of this because something like 18% of respondents of a random survey in a finite area said they wish they had one charger for everything??? SERIOUSLY???

 

[ericwn]

Oh goody. Let’s move to connectors that get loose over time so you wake up in the morning and your **** ain’t charged.

I’m enjoying the second iPhone with a broken lightning connector in a row. I’ll happily try a different connector on my next one if possible.

 

[cmaier]

I’m enjoying the second iPhone with a broken lightning connector in a row. I’ll happily try a different connector on my next one if possible.

Sorry to hear it. I've owned more than a dozen iPhones and iPads with lightning connectors and never had a problem. Of course anecdotes are just anectdotes, and the one thing we know for sure is that in USB-C the known weak point is located in the socket while in Lightning the weak point is in the connector on the cable.

 

[bilbo--baggins]

This is the sort of thing that contributed to the UK leaving the EU.

 

[checker2010]

Great article. Well research and throughly written. Thank you.

 

[upritbass]

If the EU had stepped in earlier, I wouldn’t have had to throw out all of my DB-25 connectors!

 

[checker2010]

This is the sort of thing that contributed to the UK leaving the EU.

Nope. Our own stupidity did that.