News European Union Pushes For USB-C to Be New Portable Charging Standard

[Admin]

The European Union is proposing new legislation enforcing USB Type-C as the default charging port on all mobile devices moving forward.

European Union Pushes For USB-C to Be New Portable Charging Standard : Read more

 

[punkncat]

Seems like a good idea. My favorite aspect is there is no "right way" to have to plug it in. Other USB standards often result in the "3 times" try.

 

[hotaru.hino]

I could've sworn Apple finally relented and put USB-C on the last iPhone, like how the iPad Pro, Air, and the new Mini are using USB-C.

But alas. Even the new iPhone is still Lightning. I don't get why Apple is holding onto this connector other than just because.

 

[MasterMadBones]

This is not exactly new in that this used to be a thing with Micro USB type B before Type C came about. This really just completes the transition. Not including chargers is a fine idea in the perspective of e-waste and cost reduction, but in reality, as we've seen with recent iPhones, the reduced cost isn't passed on to the consumer at all. It efectively increases the price of the devices.

On Apple's Lighting ports: they didn't change back then and they won't change now, despite the fines that have been imposed on them in the past and likely will be in the future.

 

[Alvar "Miles" Udell]

They are holding on to it because Lightning cables are much more expensive than USB and Apple would do anything for money...and to be special.

Honestly I think Apple would go fully wireless before they put USB-C on their devices and create a proprietary mounting mechanism so people would have to use a proprietary Apple MagSafe (or whatever they end up calling it) wireless charger.

 

[hotaru.hino]

It efectively increases the price of the devices.

If by "increasing the price" you mean "they didn't drop the price by $20 because you no longer get a charger with the device ", I suppose you could make that argument.

Aside from that, you don't need a pre-packaged charger anymore unless you really need a fast charger. USB ports on devices made in the past 3 years can supply enough current to bring a phone from near dead to 50% in a moderate amount of time. Plus you can find USB ports on power strips and wall oulets now. And if you really need that 50% in less than half an hour on demand because you're constantly using the phone, you should invest in a battery bank at that point.

 

[setx]

If we had to guess, this will probably be related to Qualcomm's Quick Charge technology which is already very popular in the mobile landscape.

I hope it isn't. Type-C has native USB PD specification so it's counterproductive to push any vendor-specific things there.

USB ports on devices made in the past 3 years can supply enough current to bring a phone from near dead to 50% in a moderate amount of time.

With Type-C it's even better: my Samsung S8 charges at max speed from motherboard's Type-C port. Some Xiaomi however only treat that port as slow charging and go 3x faster if I put Type-C->DP adapter in between.

 

[sizzling]

Honestly I think Apple would go fully wireless before they put USB-C on their devices and create a proprietary mounting mechanism so people would have to use a proprietary Apple MagSafe (or whatever they end up calling it) wireless charger.

Unfortunately I think you might be right but that will be the time for me to stop buying iPhones. I have a nice couple of audio setups that although have Bluetooth they also show how much better a lossless wired connection is. I have tried Android before and didn’t like it, apart from the complete lack of apps I preferred Windows Phone.

 

[cryoburner]

This goal is to reduce e-waste from a large number of differing chargers

They did the same thing with Micro-USB some years back. I guess all those "standard" Micro-USB chargers become e-waste now. >_>

Though really, I suspect most new phones in the EU have probably already moved on to Type-C, so that regulation might no longer be in effect. A few years from now, they will probably be moving on to something else like wireless charging, and the Type-C chargers will get trashed in favor of a new standard. And a few years after that, the standardized wireless charging docks will get replaced with some new wireless charging standard. And of course, those wireless chargers (with a cord attached) will likely create more e-waste than a simple cord.

The real e-waste though is in the phones themselves, that people have a tendency of replacing within a few years or so whether they have actual need for a new one or not.

 

[USAFRet]

Just like FireWire vs USB...Apple loses again.

 

[hotaru.hino]

They did the same thing with Micro-USB some years back. I guess all those "standard" Micro-USB chargers become e-waste now. >_>

I think this is more to standardize fast charging because there's too many different protocols that aren't compatible with each other.

Besides, you can still use a Micro-USB charger, since the output is over Type A. Fast charging also works over a Type A output. You just can't use USB-PD with a Type A output, but the wattages it provides aren't really necessary for phones anyway.

 

[spongiemaster]

The real e-waste though is in the phones themselves, that people have a tendency of replacing within a few years or so whether they have actual need for a new one or not.

The overwhelming catalyst for this is non-user replaceable batteries. After 2 to 3 years max, the battery life is so terrible that the phones are unusable even if they are perfectly functional otherwise. I wish phone makers would stop trying to make paper thin phones and instead use larger replaceable batteries.

 

[Conahl]

The overwhelming catalyst for this is non-user replaceable batteries. After 2 to 3 years max, the battery life is so terrible that the phones are unusable even if they are perfectly functional otherwise. I wish phone makers would stop trying to make paper thin phones and instead use larger replaceable batteries.

even then,most companies only make a battery for their phones for about that 2-3 year time frame, so by the time the battery is terrible, its too late, and a battery is either to difficult to find, or not worth the cost. ran into that issue with my galaxy S5 i think it was. ended up getting an S8 instead of the new battery for the S5.

 

[hotaru.hino]

The overwhelming catalyst for this is non-user replaceable batteries. After 2 to 3 years max, the battery life is so terrible that the phones are unusable even if they are perfectly functional otherwise. I wish phone makers would stop trying to make paper thin phones and instead use larger replaceable batteries.

Which I would argue depends on how the phone was used. I'm going on a Galaxy S10+ for 2.5 years now and the battery capacity hasn't decreased all that much from when I first had it. If anything else, the lack of OS updates on Android phones is a concern. Most Android phone makers drop support after 2 years... if they even care after 1.

 

[spongiemaster]

If anything else, the lack of OS updates on Android phones is a concern. Most Android phone makers drop support after 2 years... if they even care after 1.

Samsung announced last year that most devices would get 3 major updates/3 years of updates plus 4 years of security updates. That's more or less the usable life of any of their phones. Good luck having a usable phone 4 years after purchase.

 

[hotaru.hino]

Samsung announced last year that most devices would get 3 major updates/3 years of updates plus 4 years of security updates. That's more or less the usable life of any of their phones. Good luck having a usable phone 4 years after purchase.

I'll let you know in 1.5 years if I stick with mine.

 

[spongiemaster]

I'll let you know in 1.5 years if I stick with mine.

If your phone still has all day battery life after 4 years, Samsung should reacquire it from you, give you a new phone and put the old one in a museum like auto manufacturers do when their cars hit a million miles.

 

[MasterMadBones]

If your phone still has all day battery life after 4 years, Samsung should reacquire it from you, give you a new phone and put the old one in a museum like auto manufacturers do when their cars hit a million miles.

Well, then I should just about get a new phone from Samsung by now. My A5 2017 still lasts 2 days on one charge most of the time, depending on how I use it.