I just watched a discussion on the TV that electronic devices have to be sold without power adapters (chargers) and most probably even without power cables in the EU. So, it would be interesting, if MacBooks would be sold without chargers and the "monopoly" on chargers would end?
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Would MacBooks come without chargers in the future?
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You got a source on this? The only thing I can find is a NYT article that briefly mentions it, and it is the first time I've heard about it despite following these things.
It might have been a understanding mixup with the EU law that requires a large range of electronic devices to be sold with a USB-C port.
Even then, I could see Apple do it by themselves - They are even now doing it with iPhones and have been since iPhone 12. Most of us now have multiple USB-C chargers, and we will likely only gain more in time, so separating the charger for the actual cost of buying a laptop would be welcome, personally.
It might have been a understanding mixup with the EU law that requires a large range of electronic devices to be sold with a USB-C port.
Even then, I could see Apple do it by themselves - They are even now doing it with iPhones and have been since iPhone 12. Most of us now have multiple USB-C chargers, and we will likely only gain more in time, so separating the charger for the actual cost of buying a laptop would be welcome, personally.
I said I watched a program on TV. NYT has nothing to do with the EU.
Most probably, there would also be extended guarantee on expensive electronic devices and right to repair, such as right to replace the batteries by the user in a few years. In The EU, I am not sure if such consumer rights are available in the US, though.
Oh, only our adapters must be used type of thing. 😏
I know, and since we didn't see that show, we have to ask you. The show was based on something, I am asking you what it was.
NYTs article was on the regulations of chargers in the EU, based on EU legislation. It might be a surprise to you, but NYT covers things outside of the US.
You can use most chargers for everything that comes with its connector. This is why the EU has mandated USB-C charging ports on most electronic devices from the end of 2024, to overcome the problem.
It's one of the stated intentions of the EU common charger directive, which rolls out to laptops in 2026.
The EU common charger
The common charging solution promotes the use of common chargers for mobile phones and other portable electronic devices.
Look for: "Unbundling the sale of a charger from the sale of the electronic device"
That's already mostly gone from official Apple docs - the Apple website mostly says things like "Pair it with a compatible USB-C power adapter" (see the store page for the MacSafe 3 cable) or "You can charge your iPhone with a USB-C cable and power adapter compliant with the USB-C standard, including USB Power Delivery" (https://support.apple.com/en-gb/105099).
Bear in mind that there's nothing new about being able to charge your MacBook from a third party Thunderbolt 3 hub or USB-C/Thunderbolt display.
Apple have already unbundled the charger from the iPhone. In the past,arguably, the MacBook Pro "needed" a 140W charger which was originally more than USB-C could deliver, but with the latest USB-C standards supporting 240W the last excuse for needing a "special" Mac charger for the higher-end MacBook Pros is going away. AFAIK, it doesn't affect MagSafe as long as the Mac can also be charged via USB-C - and MagSafe 3 is done via a USB-C to MagSafe cable anyway, so you don't need a special MagSafe charger.
It's a perfectly good idea - as USB-C takes over, lots of people buying new Macs will already have all the chargers they need.
Of course, when Apple de-bundles the charger, I'm sure they will knock $80 off the price of a MacBook...
/s
But OP is talking about chargers not being allowed to be sold with devices by law. The EU regulation here just says "Consumers will be able to purchase a new electronic device without a new charger." due to everything having a USB-C port leaving included chargers with electronic unnecessary as such.It's one of the stated intentions of the EU common charger directive, which rolls out to laptops in 2026.
The EU common charger
The common charging solution promotes the use of common chargers for mobile phones and other portable electronic devices.single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu
Look for: "Unbundling the sale of a charger from the sale of the electronic device"
As I said, it's a stated intention of the common charger directive.
From the linked document:
I.e. no, it's not "by law" in the current directive but if manufacturers don't do it voluntarily, that will likely change. So far, several manufacturers, including Apple, Samsung and Google have already "unbundled" chargers from their phones globally maybe in response to EU's "nudge", so it's probably happening, law or none.
That's what I heard. On the TV.
Those EU regulations are not yet out. The words such as "Consumers will be able to purchase a new electronic device without a new charger" means that no device maker will be able to sell the device together with a charger.
Maybe, there also might be laws that allows people to buy all the parts that goes into a device.
While the physical power cables and connectors are interchangeable, the charger itself is not a universal standard in terms of power. Every laptop has a minimum charger power requirement that is specific to that model and configuration. Laptop manufacturers like Apple group similar power requirement models into a few categories and then design a charger that can satisfy all the models in that category in terms of power requirement.
So why don't laptop makers just take the highest power requirement within all of their models and create a one charger based on that requirement so they only need to make one charger model? Two reasons - higher power chargers cost more to manufacture than lower, and higher power chargers are physically larger and heavier than lower power.
If the EU mandates consumer choice in chargers and the goal is to minimize electronic waste, then EU would have to define categories of power with respective definitions of laptop categories. If they don't, they run the risk of uninformed consumers purchasing under powered chargers and they don't make a significant reduction in e-waste.
This is a very different case than smartphones as power requirements across all makes of smartphones are within a very narrow range compared to laptops.
So why don't laptop makers just take the highest power requirement within all of their models and create a one charger based on that requirement so they only need to make one charger model? Two reasons - higher power chargers cost more to manufacture than lower, and higher power chargers are physically larger and heavier than lower power.
If the EU mandates consumer choice in chargers and the goal is to minimize electronic waste, then EU would have to define categories of power with respective definitions of laptop categories. If they don't, they run the risk of uninformed consumers purchasing under powered chargers and they don't make a significant reduction in e-waste.
This is a very different case than smartphones as power requirements across all makes of smartphones are within a very narrow range compared to laptops.
Not quite, it means that device makers will have to make the charger an optional extra. Which has already happened with iPhone, Google Pixel and (I believe) some Samsung phones, even outside the EU (because it makes sense, even if it took a nudge from the EU). So, law or otherwise, it's quite likely to come to laptops when the EU directive rolls out to laptops in 2026 (...and by then, USB-C adapters supporting more than 100W should be more common).
The "Consumers will be able to purchase a new electronic device without a new charger" line comes from this link, and AFAIK, so far, its just an aspiration, not the law, and if you read down you'll see the bit I quoted earlier about the 4-year review of "unbundling" which makes it clear that unbundling isn't currently mandatory.
Unfortunately (understandably, because EU directives are written by lawmakers for lawmakers and are consequently almost impossible for us mere mortals to understand) , everybody is quoting from summaries, EU press releases and press articles rather than the actual EU directive - plus, EU directives aren't even laws, they are instructions to EU member states to update their own laws - so there's another layer of "interpretation" between the directive and what the law is in (say) Germany or Spain.
NB: EU directives aren't laws - they are directives to member states to modify their own laws so they are only a baseline for what actually ends up on the statute books. Then there are other countries (including the UK now) who aren't EU member states but for whom it just makes sense to align their own laws with at least some EU directives.
There is now - the USB Power Delivery Spec (which is referenced by the EU directive) defines a range of power specifications up to 240W in the lates version, which would be enough to power a small desktop. Also, its a smart connector that negotiates the voltage and current, so if you plug a 15W charger into a 100W device you won't let the magic smoke out - and in most cases it will still charge, if slowly - worst case, nothing happens. Plug a 240W charger into a 15W device - with an old-style dumb charger that would fry the device with 50V, with USB PD the device will only ever see 9V or less unless it signals that it can take more.
The EU common charger directive doesn't roll out to laptops until 2026 (and that will presumably be new laptops) so there's plenty of time for the > 100W flavours of USB PD to emerge.
That's already done - USB Power Delivery Profiles 1-7 - or just look at the "wattages" and make sure the charger power is >= the laptop power (if not, you should still get a trickle charge).
Good update on where EU stands on these categories for chargers. I am still skeptical that the average consumer, left on their own, can easily navigate the categories and buy the appropriate charger for the laptop that did not include one. Of course one could just buy the highest power class charger, but that would be the most expensive and heaviest option. I also don't think removing bundled chargers will make a meaningful improvement to e-waste unless EU convinces people to always buy the highest power class charger. All-in-all, I don't see any benefit to the consumer if chargers can no longer be bundled. While one might think it will lead to lower prices, that is a bad assumption. Laptop makers will just pocket the extra cost savings and not pass it on to the consumer.
All TV shows have a name, and a date that runs. If you give us the name of the "TV Show" (?) where this was announced, and who announced it (right/ left wing analyst? News reader? Someone from the EU? Some random person on the street?), then we would be able to:
1. Identify a secondary source on this announcement.
2. Figure out if this person misunderstood the existing laws.
3. Provide advice on what to do moving forward.
But just saying "I heard it on the TV" is virtually meaningless.
It's no harder than buying the right batteries for a "batteries not included" device - and there's nothing stopping you from buying the manufacturer's recommended charger at the same time, you just won't be forced to.
If your device is lost/stolen/broken (as happens quite a lot with phones and laptops) you won't necessarily need a new charger. Your next Mac will probably work with the same charger. If you have a USB-C/TB display or dock then you won't need another charger on your desk and - on the road - your phone charger will still be able to keep your laptop topped up. Having to pay extra for a shiny new adapter will make people stop and think whether they need one.
I've already got a nice 65W 4-port charger from Anker for charging phones, kindles etc. and USB-C displays on my desktop which can top up a laptop, so if I went out and bought a new MacBook Air or lower-end Pro I wouldn't need yet another adapter.
Also, bear in mind, the EU charger directive is being rolled out to a whole list of other small electronic products so it's not all about phones and laptops. I have boxes full of orphaned non-USB chargers that came with various gizmos (and which can't safely be used with something that appears to fit without carefully checking the voltage, max current and even polarity).
Anyway, none of this is really going to save the world (and there's probably enough copper in the typical charger to make it worth recycling) - but what it is really doing is improving consumer choice. Maybe next time you buy a laptop you'll appreciate being able to choose a 4-port 100W charger that can keep all of your electronics topped up, rather than a dedicated charger for each device.
Possibly. Certainly sounds like the Apple we know and love. OTOH in the larger PC market there is more healthy price competition between laptop manufacturers which should balance that. These changes will only come with new models, with new specs, so it will be impossible to track whether the savings are truly being "passed on" - these products are aimed at strategic "price points" and not priced according to some bill-of-materials + fixed markup formula.
The other factor is that if you do need extra/spare/replacement power supplies, that market should become far more competitive, with lots of manufacturers happy to offer you a USB-certified charger at a lower price than the proprietary one.
It's been floated by the EU several times and has been watered down more. Ultimately, I believe you will see the option to buy a charger in the future, but it won't be included by default. For Apple, for example, it is perfectly plausible for a single charging device to work with several products. So, the idea is that consumers should be encouraged not to get one by default with every purchase. Nothing stops them from asking for one or buying extra ones.
The idea is good, but still, a lot more is required from manufacturers, not just lawmakers before it can become a reality.
The idea is good, but still, a lot more is required from manufacturers, not just lawmakers before it can become a reality.
Those directives become laws in EU countries at the end, especially this type of directives. No one wants landfills full of dangerous stuff in their countries.
If you know Polish...And, here we have a 2 year guarantee too.