The European Commission has begun consideration of a bill to standardize a charger for consumer electronics in the European Union. It also plans to agree on a fast charging standard and insists that the devices be sold without charging blocks. This initiative applies to smartphones, tablets, cameras, headphones, handheld game consoles and speakers.
The highest governing body of the European Union highlights the following key points in the law:
- Unified port for charging electronic devices: USB-C is suggested.
- Unified Fast Charge Technology: should prevent unreasonable limitation of charging speed by different manufacturers and ensure the same speed when using any compatible charger.
- Sale of charging blocks separately from sales of devices: the argument is that consumers in the EU already have, on average, three chargers.
- Detailed information for consumers: Manufacturers need to provide information on the charging speed and whether the device supports fast charging.
According to the European Commission, consumers separately spend 2.4 billion euros annually on chargers. In addition, unused charging units make up about 11,000 tonnes of e-waste annually. The Commission hopes the proposed law could potentially save consumers € 250 million a year. When it comes to standardizing fast charging, the situation is a little more complicated, as many Chinese manufacturers use different standards to compete with each other. Most of them do support USB-C Power Delivery, however, so they will need to educate consumers on what speed they can expect from the charger they already have.
The proposed law will affect Apple the most, as the company will need to move from Lightning to USB-C. MacBooks and iPads already come with a USB-C port, while iPhones and AirPods continue to use Lightning. According to the bill, manufacturers will be given a 24-month period to adapt to the changes. During this time, Apple may be phasing out wired charging altogether.
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