If it is up to European legislators, we will all use USB-C ports on our smartphones from the autumn of 2024. Apple must also believe in it. It is a universal standard, which has a nice surprise in store. What does this mean for you in the future?
We mainly use the USB-C port for charging most smartphones, laptops and tablets. But if it is up to the European Union, by autumn 2024 this will also apply to digital cameras, headphones, handhelds (for video games) and e-readers. All devices get a universal charger. The original idea was that it didn’t matter what USB-C charger you use for a device, charging or powering it shouldn’t be a problem.
However, in practice we encounter different situations. Apple doesn’t use the usb-c port for its iPhone line, for example. And then we have the Android phone manufacturers who play all kinds of tricks with their chargers, sometimes causing them to not work well with models from other suppliers. In short: it is still quite difficult as an ordinary consumer to find your way in the fragmented landscape of chargers and plugs.
But change is coming
The Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, a committee of the European Parliament, now wants to change this. They have made agreements about this: the devices mentioned must all receive USB-C and support a universal charging standard (with fast charging, of course). In addition, the devices are no longer supplied with chargers as standard. Because if all goes well, you already have a suitable charger at home.
With the proposition, the European Union wants to reduce, among other things, e-waste (electronic waste). And that is desperately needed, because the pile of unused devices and chargers does not get smaller every year. And if you’re really honest: how many chargers do you still have in the drawer that you don’t use? Or which you don’t even know what it is anymore? A single charger for all your devices is an excellent answer to the waste mountain and the question whether you still need such a charger.
USB-C for everyone
The current plans were unveiled in September 2021, but the European Union has been working on this for ten years now. In recent years, many Android phone makers have switched from micro-usb to usb-c, already creating some uniformity (although you can’t use every charger on every smartphone), while Apple forged its own path with the Lightning and more. gate. Unsurprisingly, Apple is against the EU’s proposed plans.
The reason: switching to a single cable would “act against innovation rather than promote it”. This ultimately “harms” consumers in Europe. Apple also states that switching to USB-C will create more e-waste, because many people will throw away their Lightning accessories; they are then superfluous. That may be true, but that is also the one-time price we pay for a future in which we no longer have to bother with cables. Moreover, more is possible with USB-C than with Lightning, which encourages rather than hinders innovation.
The new legislation still has to be approved by the European Parliament, but that is only a formality. An important detail, which emerges in the press release, is that the new rules explicitly apply to devices that are charged via a cable. Devices that are only charged wirelessly do not have to meet the upcoming requirements. However, it seems unlikely that an iPhone without a charging port will appear any time soon.
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