From 2025, Apple's iPhone and all Android smartphones sold in Saudi Arabia will have to have a USB-C charging port, with laptops to follow in 2026.
Saudi Arabia passes law requiring USB-C charges for smartphones::From 2025, Apple's iPhone and all Android smartphones sold in Saudi Arabia will have to have a USB-C charging port, with laptops to follow in 2026.
While I agree with the point of these laws, to get everyone on a standard, it's going to suck when the next, better standard comes along and the are all these laws preventing phones from adopting it
The EU has appointed a committee to reconsider the standards every couple of years and the law allows changing the standard if they decide to. I’m not sure how Saoudi Arabia will deal with this.
EU attempted to get smartphone manufacturers to agree on a standard so that law wouldn't be necessary to avoid this scenario. Guess which company didn't want to play with the others?
Guess which company is now forced to do it in second revision of the same law or is going to get forbidden from selling their devices in EU. Being an asshole strongarming your way around works for certain countries on this planet that have legalized bribing and call it lobbying. EU doesn't give a shit.
The original proposal was that companies agree by themselves a common standard to use so that legislation wouldn't be needed. They had their chance to go on without legally forced change but they didn't want to.
Additionally EU has given Apple multiple warnings about not to hinder USB-C functionality like fast charging so that it would only work with their own chargers and cables.
So, they agree to a common standard AFTER Apple has switched to Lightning. These ideas sound so great if you ignore timelines and what really happened when.
it’s going to suck when the next, better standard comes along and the are all these laws preventing phones from adopting it
this argument keeps being trotted out.
Standards can change.
The USB-C protocol allows for future improvements. The spec allows for charging at capacities far higher than exist today, and the connection type so far supports USB3.0, 3.1, 3.2, USB4 and even the unfortunately-named USB4v2.0. The USB-C connection type will still be around for USB5.3v2max SuperSpeed or whatever it's called in 2030.
Governments move really, really slow. How long has USB-C been out? Many years it seems and now it’s being mandated? In my view USB-C is old tech. I like it, don’t get me wrong, but it’s old old.
If you go to any government organization except maybe parts of the military, you’ll find that their tech is outdated and running legacy shit because they have to go through piles of paperwork to change anything.