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European Union MEPs Agree on Making USB Type-C the Standard Charging Connector

TheLostSwede

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This past week, the EU's Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee agreed on adopting USB Type-C as the union's standard charging connector, with 43 votes in favour and two against. It's part of the Radio Equipment Directive and it means that USB-C is now very close to becoming the de facto connector for charging a wide range of consumer electronics. The charging standard will apply to what the committee calls small and medium-sized electronic gadgets and include mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, headphones and headsets, handheld videogame consoles and portable speakers. Exemptions will apply for devices that are too small to incorporate a USB-C port, such a smart watches, health trackers and some sports equipment.

The directive still has to be approved by the EU parliament, which is expected to happen in May during the plenary session. There will be an initial transition period and the new requirements aren't expected to start to apply until early 2024. In addition to the new directive, the MEPs also want to see clear labelling on devices in terms of how much power they can deliver, since this can sometimes be hard to figure out as a consumer. They also want to see clear labelling on product packaging if a charger is supplied or not. Furthermore, the MEPs want the European Commission to present a strategy with regards to wireless chargers by the end of 2026, to make sure there's some kind of minimal interoperability between the various wireless charging standards. This is said to be to try and avoid market fragmentation, as well as to reduce e-waste and to try and prevent consumer "lock-in" to proprietary charging standards. The EU is said to end up with 11 to 13-thousand tons of e-waste from chargers alone on a yearly basis, so it's not hard to see why the union wants to see a unified charging standard for most electronics.



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EU does share opinions but this is absolutely a great thing.
 
It's great go to anywhere with tablet, laptop, camera, watch, phone, headphones... and carry only one (multiport) or two chargers, all with the same cables.
 
Most manufactures are logically going Type-c anyway but the eu does likes to bath itself in fake glory.
 
Most manufactures are logically going Type-c anyway but the eu does likes to bath itself in fake glory.
Most manufactures are going to Type-C because EU warns a lot years ago about this and unifying the charger. If UE says this from one day to another, industry will rightly complain.

If UE dosn't warn about this many years ago, today many manufactures would still using his own chargers, only for greed.
 
Furthermore, the MEPs want the European Commission to present a strategy with regards to wireless chargers by the end of 2026, to make sure there's some kind of minimal interoperability between the various wireless charging standards. This is said to be to try and avoid market fragmentation,

Is it safe to assume this will reduce or even remove propriety designs? for example, I just picked up one of those amazon tablets and tried to charge it plug into my PC, it wouldnt charge past 79%, that may not apply here, something like manufacturers limiting charge unless its their own charger.
 
It's great go to anywhere with tablet, laptop, camera, watch, phone, headphones... and carry only one (multiport) or two chargers, all with the same cables.

This ruling doesn't apply to laptops, so tons of relatively large chargers (compared to smaller portable devices), are still locked-in to their proprietary chargers.

Ironically, Apple's had USB-C charging for all their laptops for 6 years now.
 
Because it is.
Many manufacturers, like Apple for example, did not want to use USB-C because they make millions in accessories.
And thanks to a quite large european market, this will push even them to USB-C. Finally.
 
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Great news actually, our planet says thank you.
Did they release details on how this requirement will keep up with the evolving specs of USB 3.x and beyond?
 
Missing the old days when chargers pins are round and no more than 2 pins (inside/outside) like this.
They are more durable than micro-usb, usb-c.
1650649967212.png
 
Missing the old days when chargers pins are round and no more than 2 pins (inside/outside) like this.
They are more durable than micro-usb, usb-c.
View attachment 244555
Not missing at all hehe. Those chargers also have a big converter/transformer.

I've an Asus laptop with exclusive dimensions and a big converter, if I want to buy a replacement, it´s more than 100€ and difficult to find.

With universal charger, like for example new Dell laptops (and many others, of course), I've a 65W USB-C charger for everything!
 
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Great news actually, our planet says thank you.
Did they release details on how this requirement will keep up with the evolving specs of USB 3.x and beyond?
USB Type-C is a connector, it has nothing to do with the rest of the USB spec as such, unfortunately in many ways.
Most high-power charging cables are only USB 2.0, as to not make them too stiff.
Then again, more than 50% of new phones are still only USB 2.0, despite using USB-C, so...
USB4 is still using the same connector, so it's not going to be an issue for at least the next 5-6 years I'd guess, maybe longer.
 
Bring it, FINALLY :love:..:D..:respect:

Die all other types of USB connectors, just friggin die already ..:roll:..:clap:..:rockout:

Lets just hope this will quickly carry over to the US & all other countries too !
 
Like they should. Anything else is just purely for charging (pun intended) more money for their proprietary stuff like Apple.
 
It's great to know that the 40 billion we are giving to EU (I'm in France) is serving such useless purpose.
Sometimes I wonder what makes people post such things? o.O
 
Missing the old days when chargers pins are round and no more than 2 pins (inside/outside) like this.
They are more durable than micro-usb, usb-c.
View attachment 244555
Not at all, they break the same if they are bad cables, apart of being able to change easily the broken cable. And let's not talk about about polarity and bigger and heavier transformers.

We are light years better with the modern standards.
 
The guys at Apple are probably not very happy right now. But I am! :) One more nail in the coffin of the era when every device needed its own charger.
 
Not a fan of USB-C here. I work IT for a big claims company in the U.S. and about 12-18 months back we moved to Dell laptops using USB-C for charging and they constantly fail. We're frequently having to have Dell replace mainboards due to the flimsy connectors for USB-C being unreliable and they basically stop recognizing the cable connection (our current models use USB-C for both charging and docking connectivity) from both the charging units and the docking connectors.

I remember our old style Dell docks used the drop-on style with a connector underneath the laptops and I don't recall having more than 1 dock connector going bad in over 5 years of using that style.

I'd prefer something more solid and reliable.
 
Sometimes I wonder what makes people post such things? o_O
It might be hard to understand from the perspective of a net recipient state.:rolleyes:

On the point of this legislation, the intention is probably even somewhat laudable, but in the long run forcing everyone to use this particular connection might very well hinder innovation, including further revisions of the USB standard.
 
It's not a bad idea that anything under 100W should have a universal standard

USB-C cables need to have markings on them (like, as part of the plastic so they cant rub off) stating the power and data speeds (65W 5GB, 100W 480Mb, etc etc)


And as for the wireless charging... yes. Jesus it's bad.
I've got four wireless charging capable phones that only agree on the 5W standard, and need same-brand accesories for fast charging, and two smart watches that only work with one specific annoying discontinued charger you literally cannot buy legit any longer (only chinese fakes)

Missing the old days when chargers pins are round and no more than 2 pins (inside/outside) like this.
They are more durable than micro-usb, usb-c.
View attachment 244555
That cant transmit data, and as someone with ~15 or so power bricks in a closet all the same voltage (12V) but the connectors are slightly different... we needed this change.

Not a fan of USB-C here. I work IT for a big claims company in the U.S. and about 12-18 months back we moved to Dell laptops using USB-C for charging and they constantly fail. We're frequently having to have Dell replace mainboards due to the flimsy connectors for USB-C being unreliable and they basically stop recognizing the cable connection (our current models use USB-C for both charging and docking connectivity) from both the charging units and the docking connectors.

I remember our old style Dell docks used the drop-on style with a connector underneath the laptops and I don't recall having more than 1 dock connector going bad in over 5 years of using that style.

I'd prefer something more solid and reliable.

That's a dell issue, not a USB-C issue. Dell used flimsy components.
 
The most important question is: Who is on Apple (or Dell with their funky proprietary rubbish) payroll to vote against this? Find those two and do something creative with them.

For the first time in EU history something good for tech market, finally.

I'm so sick and tired of those mini, micro-usb, usb-a/b garbage. Not to mention Lighting. Get rid of all that crap. Plus, why motherboards still only have 1 perhaps 2 USB-C is beyond me. It's not 2015 when TB3 was new thing. It's 2022 and USB-C is standard for 7 years.
 
Sometimes I wonder what makes people post such things? o_O
Some people just like to complain. If the article was about decreasing taxes for everyone, someone would still not like it and complain about it.
 
Bring it, FINALLY :love:..:D..:respect:

Die all other types of USB connectors, just friggin die already ..:roll:..:clap:..:rockout:

Lets just hope this will quickly carry over to the US & all other countries too !

Agree, had USB C since I went Pixel C and 1 in 2015...

Apple being forced to change from lightning in Europe too... everyone should have gone USB C years ago, just greed getting in the way. Want to sell proprietory kit, never understand people paying money to be tied in to it!
 
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