The IT Nerd

The EU has been teasing this for some time. But now it’s official. A press release issued by the European Parliament earlier today states the following:

By the end of 2024, all mobile phones, tablets and cameras sold in the EU will have to be equipped with a USB Type-C charging port. From spring 2026, the obligation will extend to laptops. The new law, adopted by plenary on Tuesday with 602 votes in favour, 13 against and 8 abstentions, is part of a broader EU effort to reduce e-waste and to empower consumers to make more sustainable choices.

Under the new rules, consumers will no longer need a different charger every time they purchase a new device, as they will be able to use one single charger for a whole range of small and medium-sized portable electronic devices.

Regardless of their manufacturer, all new mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, headphones and headsets, handheld videogame consoles and portable speakers, e-readers, keyboards, mice, portable navigation systems, earbuds and laptops that are rechargeable via a wired cable, operating with a power delivery of up to 100 Watts, will have to be equipped with a USB Type-C port.

All devices that support fast charging will now have the same charging speed, allowing users to charge their devices at the same speed with any compatible charger.

I think it’s a safe bet that Tim Cook and company are not happy about this as they’ve resisted calls from their users to switch from Lightning to USB-C for years. Even though it’s pretty clear that Lightning is dead as well as dead slow. But I for one am very happy about this as it will finally force Apple to join everybody else in 2022 with a USB-C port on their phone. Though I can see a scenario where Apple may either try to fight this, or get rid of all ports on iPhones just to make a point. But I suspect that we’ll see soon enough. Starting with Apple trotting out one of their press minions to comment about how this stops innovation.

This entry was posted on October 4, 2022 at 9:02 am and is filed under Commentary with tags EU. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.