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The EU wants all phones to use the same charging port

Infinity Times Two

Infinity Times Two

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
10,114
Sweden
*Stares at Apple*

InterestingEngineering.com said:
You're at a friend's house, and upon realizing your iPhone is about to die you ask if they have a charger lying around. They only have an Android charger. You're stuck.

The E.U. would like to stop this type of situation from happening by having a standard and singular charging port for all types of smartphones.

The hope is that this would curb electronic waste, as well as improve the consumer experience.

Electronic waste
"More than 51,000 tonnes of electronic waste per year," happen because of old chargers being thrown out, stated the E.U.'s assessment. This may be reason enough to jump on the E.U.'s bandwagon for a standard charger.
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https://interestingengineering.com/...urce=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
 
Lumination

Lumination

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Oct 26, 2017
12,502
Apple: Remove all ports and only allow proprietary wireless charging.
300px-Modern_Problems_Require_Modern_Solutions.jpg
 
Dest

Dest

Has seen more 10s than EA ever will
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Jun 4, 2018
14,082
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Yeah Apple just use type-c like...
everyone else
 
Trisc

Trisc

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Oct 27, 2017
6,490
Dest said:
Yeah Apple just use type-c like...
everyone else
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My iPad has type-C. It's pretty nice to use the same cable to charge my tablet and Switch. If only my phone used type-C, too, then I'd only need to carry around one or two type-C chargers.
Pankratous said:
What happens when one company wants to innovate and make a genuinely better port?
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Then they can have it be backwards-compatible with old devices and use the same input, like USB Type-A.
 

Deleted member 33082

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That would be convenient but certainly it runs the risk of hindering development of better charging ports in the future
 
Eoin

Eoin

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Oct 27, 2017
7,104
Octodad said:
"Cool everyone use ours." says every company.
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One of the big reasons why most companies switched to micro-USB a while back was that the EU told them that if the industry didn't self-standardise, there would be regulation imposed to ensure standardisation. Phone companies chose to comply and wrote up their own MoU for swapping to micro-USB (note: link is to a PDF). Apple got past that by allowing micro-USB charging via an adapter.

"Everyone use ours" might delay standardisation but it won't stop it.
 
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Futureman

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Oct 26, 2017
9,409
I think Apple will eventually move away from Lightning anyways. Annoying my iPad and NEWER iPhone don't have the same port.

Though I could also see them try to go portless.
 

Deleted member 82

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Pankratous said:
Why would one company innovate and then give the tech away?
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Ideally this isn't how things would go. Companies would collaborate to come up with a better standard. It wouldn't be just one company doing all the work while everyone else twiddles their thumbs.

But of course, under capitalism, we can't have such nice things because profit and competition.
 

Deleted member 8741

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It also assumes that every company would willingly switch at the same time. If one company wants to release a cutting edge tech and the other doesn't want to redesign it's phone to account for it, then does everyone have to wait? Sounds like a logistical nightmare to me.

To the people correcting me about Apple vs. others, I get it. My point is every company is going to say that everyone should use their option as the best. Apple may be the single outlier, but they're also the biggest one. Whenever there is a new transition, there will be early adopters and lagging adopters. My opinion, let people do what they want and if it kills their sales, so be it.
 
GulAtiCa

GulAtiCa

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Oct 25, 2017
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That be really nice. Most of my devices now use USB-C. Be great if more used it.

(The picture just a silly joke that made me think of that, removed cause people were taking it too seriously)
 
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Aureon

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Oct 27, 2017
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Pankratous said:
Why would one company innovate and then give the tech away?
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There's consortium for all standards.

I mean, WiFi is standard and that hasn't really been a problem.

After current extendable ports, there really isn't that much to innovate. USB-C is fine for a few years, and then the USB consortium will approve USB-D if there's a need, and so on - like standards for everything else.

There's no revolutionary port upgrades anymore. USB-C can literally serve as any modern cable - power, data, video, whatever. It's reversible, durable and if need arises, magnetic locking.

If you want to use a different port, you should have to make a case to the regulator that you actually *need* it, if nothing else.
 

Deleted member 11626

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Apple already uses USB C on their newer laptops and iPad Pros. Feels like the iPhone is the next step. Would be nice just to have one single cord from now on
 
Eoin

Eoin

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Pankratous said:
What happens when one company wants to innovate and make a genuinely better port?
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I understand this argument in theory....but what would a "genuinely better port" even do better?

USB C right now supports data transfer at rates that are more than high enough for any possible use for a mobile phone. It's small enough in every dimension that it's not adding significantly to the size of a phone or wasting internal space. It's cheap for phone manufacturers to use and cheap for consumers to buy additional cables. It carries enough power to quickly charge any battery that can fit into a phone. It has the ability to carry audio and video in common display formats. It works with USB C peripherals and storage and it's backwards compatible with the infinitude of old USB devices and accessories with cheap adapters. It's highly compatible and becoming more so, and, as an added bonus, it fixes USB A's flip-flip-now-it fits issues.

Any different port is going to sacrifice at least a few of those advantages, and it's really difficult to see what improvements could be made that would be worth those sacrifices.
 
The Albatross

The Albatross

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Oct 25, 2017
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USB-C is obviously the best port and it's still weird to me that my Android phone can be plugged into my MacBook with the cable that ships with the MacBook or the Android phone... but an iPhone can't.

Wireless charging is fine, I use a wireless charger at night, but it's not practical for every solution. It's less efficient, usually slower, usually takes up more space, and is less convenient in places where wires can go... like cars, coffee shops, your travel bag, planes, etc. And in most cases, you can't really use your phone conveniently when it's on a wireless charger.
 
KDR_11k

KDR_11k

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Nov 10, 2017
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Yeah, I remember the mess that were phone chargers before the USB mandate... Every phone had a slightly different plug, many looking alike but none compatible. And of course data cables were proprietary too and expensive.
 
Palette Swap

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Evolution of Metal

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Octodad said:
It also assumes that every company would willingly switch at the same time. If one company wants to release a cutting edge tech and the other doesn't want to redesign it's phone to account for it, then does everyone have to wait? Sounds like a logistical nightmare to me.

To the people correcting me about Apple vs. others, I get it. My point is every company is going to say that everyone should use their option as the best. Apple may be the single outlier, but they're also the biggest one. Whenever there is a new transition, there will be early adopters and lagging adopters. My opinion, let people do what they want and if it kills their sales, so be it.
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Apple is not the biggest one, it is in the middle when it comes to Europe.

There is nothing cutting edge about proprietary ports, nor has there been for a few years. Apple wants to sell more accessories, they do NOT offer extra convenience or speed. What is more, your own argument about lagging tech describes Lightning because it is both slower current and data speeds. The legislation would force Apple to sell their phones with the more advanced, reliable and convenient port.
 
Benjamin1981

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Oct 28, 2017
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One charger to rule them all is the way to go. Apple is just ignorant because they can't charge third parties anymore if they give up Lightning and the "made for iphone" program.
 
Wraith

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tenor.gif


I mean, even if every manufacturer agreed to go USB C on everything, Android, Apple, high end, flip phones, whatever... it's not like everyone's going to throw their existing phones in the trash because now there's a "standard" for cables. Those phones are going to be around for a while, also in the used/refurb market. And how many years until USB C gets replaced with something newer. No standard lasts forever.
 
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