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EU Committee Votes To Make All Smartphone Vendors Utilize a Standard Charger
Deathspawner writes "The EU has been known to make a lot of odd decisions when it comes to tech, but one committee's latest vote is one that most people will likely agree with: Standardized smartphone chargers. If passed, this decision would cut down on never having the right charger handy, but as far as the EU is concerned, this is all about a reduction of waste. The initial vote went down on Thursday, and given its market saturation, it seems likely that micro USB would be the target standard. Now, it's a matter of waiting on the EU Parliament to make its vote."
There are millions of people that have iPhones, none of them are your friends? This whole "must be chargeable with micro USB" was already mandatory in the EU, they are just changing the regulations so you don't need an adapter like the iPhone currently requires. They had to, because evidently vendors weren't having it and found ways around it, so yes, there really is a need to legislate this.
I was promised a flying car. Where is my flying car?
Ah, Apple. Dock Connector had its stressed parts on the connector, which means that if something breaks, it's most likely the cheap cable. MicroUSB does this too. Lightning has its stressed parts in the receptacle - so the parts that break the most are inside the expensive phone.
Great idea, huh?
Not to mention the thing where the lightning cable apparently has a chip in the cable itself to verify itself with the phone. Turning the "cheap and easily replaceable" bit into "an unnecessary expensive and wasteful thing."
The lightning cable and connector should die, and Apple should be forced to use micro USB just like everyone else.
You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
No prob. In fact I use my 3rd iPod charger (2003ish) to charge my iPhone 4S.
SJWs are the new boogeyman. -Me
This is just making mandatory the Common External Power Supply EU standard. That's been a voluntary standard since 2009, and most cell phone vendors in Europe have been on board for years. It's simple enough - phones use a MicroUSB B connector, and chargers use a USB-A connector if they have a connector at the charger end.
China standardized on MicroUSB-B back in 2007. The GSM consortium standardized on MicroUSB-B in 2009.
Apple already got an exemption last time this issue came up in the EU.
This isn't the first time this was addressed by the EU.
The last law only affected the part that plugged into the wall, so Apple got an exemption there.
Now they are specifying BOTH ends of the connectors must meet the standard. Its about time.
Also, selling phones without a charger, for 10 bucks less would make sense as well.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
Parent and GP are both right, kind of. The original iPod had a Firewire port right on it. The third-generation iPod switched to the 30-pin dock connector. This connector is the same connector that was used all the way through last year, when Apple switched to the Lightning connector instead.
However, within this connector, different devices support different features. The connector contains pins for both Firewire and USB, each with their own power (Firewire is 12V unregulated, USB is 5V regulated). Another feature that varies by device include video output.
Any accessories that didn't take the easy way out and support charging via both USB and Firewire will work on any device. The problem many people encountered, however, is that many accessory makers DID take the easy way out, especially for car accessories. A 12V unregulated power supply is really easy to get in a car - everything runs off of 12V. So an old 30-pin charger can basically just connect the cigarette lighter directly to the phone, with a fuse inline for safety.
Eventually, Apple dropped Firewire support in new devices. Anything that supported both Firewire and USB kept working - however, many accessories didn't. After all, why add in a 5V regulator and other components if they're not strictly needed?
Avtually, it being small is reason enough - it means it's small enough to be installed via automated pick and place machines.
But it also means the only mechanical attachment it has to the board is a set of solder pads - two big ones near the part where the cable inserts. If you want tabs that go through the PCB, it requires a separate through-hole process to finish the attachment, extra costs.
The problem with soldered mechanical attachment points is that they result in the weakest part being the glue that holds the copper to the PCB. Wiggle the cable a little bit or jam it a touch too hard and you delaminate the copper foil from the board. Eventually the tabs break off the PCB and the connector is literally held by the 5 pins at the back which aren't strong enough to withstand much insertion and removal cycles.
Perhaps the EU should mandate that the connectors be epoxied down to the board so an accidental bump or jerk doesn't destroy the connector. Once the pads rip off, it's the only way to reattach the connector.
Be especially wary of docking stations that attempt to do an Apple and have a micro-USB jack stick straight up and be a mechanical attachment point for the docking station and that port is not generally expected to withstand much mechanical strain.
Heck, the EU should probably go with something similar to Lightning - where there's no plastic tongues inside the connector. I've seen them break off - on both the device and the cable ends. Making the jack a solid piece with external connections like lightning or those 2.5mm plugs is far more structurally sound than relying on flimly slivers of plastic.