A view of a harmonised mobile phone charger is seen during a news conference at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels February 8, 2011. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir
BRUSSELS, Sept 21 (Reuters) - The European Commission will on Thursday present a legislative proposal for a common charger for mobile phones, tablets and headphones, a person familiar with the matter said - a move likely to affect iPhone maker Apple (AAPL.O) more than its rivals.
The European Union executive and EU lawmakers have been pushing for a common charger for over a decade, saying it would be better for the environment and more convenient for users.
The Commission wants the sale of chargers to be decoupled from devices, and also propose a harmonised charging port, the person said.
Apple, whose iPhones are charged from its Lightning cable, has said rules forcing connectors to conform to one type could deter innovation, create a mountain of electronic waste and irk consumers.
Rival Android-based devices are charged using USB-C connectors. Half the chargers sold with mobile phones in 2018 had a USB micro-B connector, while 29% had a USB-C connector and 21% a Lightning connector, according to a 2019 Commission study.
Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Kevin Liffey
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nudelsalat3000 on September 22nd, 2021 at 15:20 UTC »
There is much more behind it.
One thing is the universal USB-C requirement. They asked for years that the industry has to find one harmonised solution, whichever they want. They failed, mainly because Apple played some games with the legal definition what a "cable" is.
EU want starting from 2023 function updates mandatory for 5 years (tablets 6years) to be delivered within 3 months or earlier if annother phone gets the update first.
Batteries must be having 80% capacity after 500 cycles. Tables have something with 1000cyles because they live longer on average. So far only apples batteries keep up the first point, which will start a race. The battery must be exchangeable within some defined technical and cost parameters.
Repair parts must be accessible by all professional repair stores. This includes batteries, screens, microfones, cameras, connectors and some more. Also the price must be communicated at the release of the phone and is not allowed to increase afterwards.
Screens must further be accessible also for retail buyers.
Repair manuals must be available non-discrimatory to buy at a reasonable price.
The phone must withstand 100 drops from 1m without damage.
The label must state the dirt and waterproofness certification (minimum is IPx4 so save water droplets as it often "kills" the warranty), the electric efficiency (which saves indirectly battery life), the battery life if above the minimum requirements, the average battery time, drop survival classification and some more details.
Companies request some more years of "laisse faire" politics to let it run without changing the system...
...however the European commission has used the recommendations from the Frauenhofer Institute (the guys from the MP3 audio standard) and went even further with some implementation details.
As this will only apply to Europe but can make use the Brussel effect (nobody builts two phone versions) it will apply worldwide. Hopefully it will become a right to repair framework like the GDPR stronghold for data protection and ownership.
Expect dense "marketing" from companies that it's unnecessary, too strict, too complicated, innefficient, hurts their business and so on... Just like the "warning" for GDPR that now you need to click away all day long cookie banners (which likely also are illegal disturbance already today - legal process running) and that everything is useless and we can just trust the companies.
leto78 on September 22nd, 2021 at 14:51 UTC »
As LTT said, the new ipad mini is the best and cheapest iPhone there is: 5G, 8" display, USB-C, A15
Jerrelh on September 22nd, 2021 at 13:17 UTC »
Usb-c is very nice.