The EU common charger : USB-C
The EU common charger : USB-C
The common charging solution promotes the use of common chargers for mobile phones and other portable electronic devices.
cross-posted from: https://jlai.lu/post/3226934
The wait is finally over. From 2024, USB-C will be the common standard for electronic devices in the EU – and we have already seen the impact !
It means
- 🔌The same charger for all phones, tablets and cameras
- ⚡ Harmonised fast-charging technology
- 🔄Reduced e-waste
One charger to rule them all.
Now, a reality.
Learn more about the #EUCommonCharger here: https://europa.eu/!hwjj3G
Unbundling the sale of a charger from the sale of the electronic device .
The 'common charging' requirements will apply to all handheld mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, headphones, headsets, portable speakers, handheld videogame consoles, e-readers, earbuds, keyboards, mice, and portable navigation systems as of 2024. These requirements will also apply to laptops as of 2026. Such transition periods will give industry sufficient time to adapt before the entry into application.
Consumers will be able to purchase a new electronic device without a new charger. This will limit the number of chargers on the market or left unused. Reducing production and disposal of new chargers is estimated to reduce the amount of electronic waste by 980 tonnes yearly
Producers will need to provide relevant visual and written information about charging characteristics, including information on the power the device requires and whether it supports fast charging. This will help consumers understand if their existing chargers meet their new device’s requirements and/or help them select a compatible charger. Combined with the other measures, this will help consumers to limit the number of new chargers purchased and save at least €250 million a year on unnecessary charger purchases.
L'attente est finalement terminée. À partir de 2024, l’USB-C deviendra la norme commune pour les appareils électroniques dans l’UE – et nous avons déjà vu son impact !
Cela signifie
- 🔌Le même chargeur pour tous les téléphones, tablettes et appareils photo
- ⚡ Technologie de charge rapide harmonisée
- 🔄Réduction des déchets électroniques
Un chargeur pour les gouverner tous. Maintenant, une réalité. Pour en savoir plus sur le #EUCommonCharger, cliquez ici : https://europa.eu/!hwjj3G
Les exigences de « charge commune » s'appliqueront à tous les téléphones mobiles portables, tablettes, appareils photo numériques, écouteurs, casques, haut-parleurs portables, consoles de jeux vidéo portables, liseuses électroniques, écouteurs, claviers, souris et systèmes de navigation portables à partir de 2024. Ces exigences s’appliquera également aux ordinateurs portables à partir de 2026. De telles périodes de transition donneront à l’industrie suffisamment de temps pour s’adapter avant l’entrée en application.
Les consommateurs pourront acheter un nouvel appareil électronique sans nouveau chargeur. Cela limitera le nombre de chargeurs sur le marché ou inutilisés. On estime que la réduction de la production et de l'élimination des nouveaux chargeurs permettrait de réduire la quantité de déchets électroniques de 980 tonnes par an.
Les producteurs devront fournir des informations visuelles et écrites pertinentes sur les caractéristiques de charge, y compris des informations sur la puissance requise par l'appareil et s'il prend en charge une charge rapide. Cela aidera les consommateurs à comprendre si leurs chargeurs existants répondent aux exigences de leur nouvel appareil et/ou les aidera à sélectionner un chargeur compatible. Combinée aux autres mesures, cette mesure aidera les consommateurs à limiter le nombre de nouveaux chargeurs achetés et à économiser au moins 250 millions d'euros par an sur les achats inutiles de chargeurs
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What happens when usb-c can't physically supply enough power for future batteries?
Then we change the standard in the future
But this law is going to make changing when a better standard should take over difficult. Imagine if this was passed 5 years ago when the terrible one sided USB was common. The only group that will have the power in the future to update it is the USB group, and that is a group of manufacturers that have a driving goal of absolute cheapness at heart, not innovation. This is a terrible law.
It should be difficult. You need to convince ten billion people to buy new chargers if you're going to switch to a new charging standard and often several chargers per person (five at home? three at work? two in your car?).
Manufacturing and distributing 50 billion or so chargers only makes sense if your new standard is a lot better than USB-C. And if it is, then it won't be difficult to convince people to move to it.
That's why it wasn't passed "5 years ago". Because it sucked too much.
USB-C doesn't, and that's why you could make the rule. Fuck your potential innovation on the cost of 1.000 tons e-waste a year.
And the downside of too many chargers was very real. They tried to solve it without the costs of a binding law, and Apple refused to join in. So now they're stuck with a good connector, and the replacement process for it will probably be a bit worse than it otherwise would have been, whenever it happens
We tried your way. It failed. We ended up with no standard and a mess of chargers.
The only group that will have the power in the future to update it is the USB group
No, it isn't. The law includes language that allows the Commission to upgrade the standard that applies, not the USB-IF. If the USB-IF does something stupid the Commission can veto it for the whole EU market, which likely means that the USB-IF won't be stupid. The standard to be used in the EU will never fall behind the currently adopted one (at least when the Commission is competent and it generally is, in these matters. They're quite good at technocracy).
Overall EU doesn't really care what the standard is, only that there is a standard and that it's sensible, and thus let manufacturers figure out the details on their own, but that doesn't mean that the EU is handing the USB-IF legislative powers: The commission will only rubber-stamp what comes out of the USB-IF if they indeed have no objections.
It can already do 240 watts which is really excessive for a mobile computer. Technology trends toward lower power requirements, not higher.
I don't think there are any 240 watt chargers on the market though despite it theoretically being supported. Last I read, there were some doubts around if it was truly feasible. Laptops that require more than 90 or so watts still come with proprietary chargers because they can't charge at full rate over USB-C.
My Dell laptop is 240 watts and the only way to charge it at full rate over USB is to buy a proprietary $250 charger from Dell that provides two USB cords that must be plugged in together to achieve a combined 240 watts. The 90 watt charger from my old laptop won't keep it running for more than an hour.
Anyway, hopefully we see 240 watt USB-C in the future but at the moment it seems to be vaporware. Maybe this ruling will push it forward.
There's 240w usb-c on every common marketplace for US market, is that not the case for eu?
I'm speaking from a US point of view. To my knowledge there are no 240 watt USB-C chargers in existence.
There are a handful that claim 240 watts but upon closer inspection only provide a max of ~100 watts per port.
There are cables sold with a 240 watt rating but no actual chargers.
The Framework Laptop 16 has a 180W PD charger. It's not the full 240W but it's using that new standard and the laptop will work with full 240W chargers when they hit the market.
So there’s not a 240w charger on the market.
This is disingenuous. There are 240W chargers, just not “on the market”. If you really want one you can contact the manufacturers for an engineer sample. But since you’re likely not a device manufacturer, you won’t have any use of it since there’s no 240W sink available “on the market”.
You just affirmed in this comment that there are none on the market. I’m not being disingenuous, just pedantic.
The original discussion was whether or not USB-C is future proof. You’re the one who moved the goalpost to “on the market now”.
Go read the thread again bro
I have no idea
They definitely exist. But there aren't many devices that are compatible with them - the 240W chargers run at much higher voltage than regular USB.
Also - only really large batteries (ones that you can't take with you on an airplane for example) are able to charge at 240W without overheating. So there's just not much demand for a charger that powerful. Lower watt chargers are cheaper and smaller and lighter.
Say that to the graphics devision of computing please.
Year after year it takes less power for the equivalent amount of processing capability. These devices only require so much now because people demanded they get exponentially stronger
Not excessive at all for a laptop, a gaming laptop may burn 400W at full tilt. Max power consumption really is more of a matter of how much heat dissipation the form factor allows in those instances: Just because you find a way to do more computation with less watts doesn't mean that people won't use it to do more computation at the same watts.
Dunno, probably a new standard. Or a standarised battery ? I'm mot an expert in this area.
I think thats a good opportunity to slow technology and focus on our earth ressource management and waste. We can wait 20 years before buying new machine and set up new standard ? Then every producers test and create new prototype in their lab along technological foundation to help with their research ?