What does the
European Union's push to standardize USB-C chargers mean for you??
My phone charges using a separate cable than my laptop, which
charges with a different cable than my PC's keyboard, which charges with the
same cable as my toothbrush for some reason.
To put it another way, my existence is a tangle of
connections. I'm not the only one that thinks this way.
According to a statement from the European Parliament, the
goal is to "make EU products more sustainable, minimize electronic waste,
and make customers' lives easier."
Here's a quick rundown of what the EU proposal entails and
what it may mean for those of us living outside of Europe.
What
exactly is going on?
The European Union intends to ensure that individuals can
charge a variety of portable electronic gadgets using a single charger.
Smartphones, tablets, headphones, cameras, e-readers, portable gaming consoles,
Bluetooth speakers, keyboards, computer mouse, and other gadgets that can be
charged by inserting a wire into them are all on the list.
Hardware manufacturers and internet businesses will have
until fall 2024 to ensure that specified devices have USB-C connectors if both
the European Parliament and the European Council sign off on the resolution
following their summer holiday.
In the case of laptops, the situation is slightly different:
manufacturers will have 40 months from the moment European legislators adopt
the deal to ensure that their machines accept USB-C charging.
Apart from establishing a "universal" charger, the
EU intends to standardize charging speeds for electronics that enable quicker
charging, such as smartphones.
How about
the iPhones?
Much of the spotlight around the European Union's decision
has been on Apple, and with good reason: the company's iPhones have utilized
the proprietary Lightning charging technology for over a decade, and it doesn't
appear that it has many alternatives other than switching it all together.
Because the proposal states that the USB-C connector
"shall be accessible and operable at all times," Apple won't be able
to just throw a Lightning-to-USB-C converter in iPhone packaging and call it a
day. During a press conference, Alex Agius Saliba, the European Parliament's
main negotiator, said that "if Apple wants to advertise their goods, sell
their products within our internal market, they have to follow by our
standards" regarding the inclusion of a USB-C port in their gadgets.
That's a shift the corporation has apparently been exploring
behind closed doors, which comes as no surprise. After all, it's not like Apple
isn't a lover of the connector; it already employs it in its laptops and a few
iPad models, while its cheaper tablets still use the older Lightning connector.
Could Apple, on the other hand, make special USB-C iPhones
for usage in Europe, while the rest of the world gets handsets with Lightning
ports? That concept has occurred to several industry analysts, though they do
not anticipate Apple to make such a decision.
"I believe the most likely consequence here is that
Apple will switch the iPhone to USB-C across the board rather than producing
two somewhat different designs," said Aaron Perzanowski, a law professor
at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. "I'm not a supply chain
specialist, but that doesn't seem like an efficient strategy."
Apple is unlikely to have various iPhone versions for
different areas, according to Carolina Milanesi, head of tech analysis company
Creative Strategies. "That's not something they generally do," she
explained. "I was also anticipating them to switch to USB-C this year
because it's currently standard on everything."
Apple declined to respond when questioned about the
implications of the European Union's decision.
What impact
does this have on users in the United States?
This entire scenario is taking place in Europe, and (at the
risk of repeating myself), the EU has no direct authority over how firms behave
or what they do outside of Europe. Does this indicate that those of us who live
outside of Europe will be unaffected by this shift?
Probably not.
It's not uncommon for companies to determine that having one
set of rules for Europe and another for the rest of the globe is inefficient.
Consider Microsoft's decision to offer GDPR protections to consumers outside of
Europe while restructuring its goods and services to comply with Europe's
General Data Privacy Regulation, or GDPR. (It's no coincidence that this phenomenon is known as the Brussels effect.)
In this scenario, that may mean Apple and other firms begin to move toward a single type of charging port that is used all around the world.
"If that's correct," Perzanowski said, "it's
another dramatic instance of the Brussels effect, with larger
ramifications."
Not at all. If firms truly embrace change, don't expect your
life with your electronics to alter suddenly. For one thing, even if everything
proceeds according to the E.U.'s expectations, hardware manufacturers will have
years to begin following the standards. Because USB-C is currently the de-facto
charging standard for a wide range of consumer gadgets, some early adopters may
not notice much of a difference.
Others, though, may be able to. The number of various cords
they use during the day may start to shrink for them. When you go on vacation,
you might not need to bring as many as you think, and you won't have to worry
about your phone dying on a night out because the bartender didn't have the
correct one. To put it another way, some of us might be able to live our lives
with one less finicky item to worry about, which isn't nothing.
In the meanwhile, what should I do?
Because IT businesses and governments are already considering
cables and ports, now is an excellent time for you to do the same.
If you're already up to your neck in outdated charging wires,
resist the desire to throw them away. Instead, stack them and take them to an
e-waste center or a big-box electronics shop. "Obsolete cords and cables
typically contain a lot of copper and may be recycled 100 percent," Linda
Gabor, executive vice president of public relations at Call2Recycle, explained.
Users who rely on accessories that connect straight into the
Lightning port on their iPhones should think about which ones they truly need.
Apple has refused to comment on future product plans, but if the European Union
has its way, future iPhones may not be able to connect to such add-ons at all.
If that's the case for you, and you know you'll want to keep
using those peripherals, try keeping aside a known-good iPhone to use alongside
them in case they aren't updated with a USB-C-friendly model.
And if you were planning on getting ahead of the game by
loading up on USB-C cables ahead of time, think twice. Make sure you read the
reviews carefully and avoid those that appear to be too inexpensive. Not all
cords are made equal, and USB-C is still a bit of a jumble years after it
became popular.
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