Techla port USB-C will become the universal standard throughout Europe for smartphones, computers, cameras and many other devices.Now the new law must be approved by the European Parliament
By Luca Pierattini
The European Commission has announced its intention to oblige smartphones producers and other electronic devices to make the USB-C port a sort of universal charger. A year after the start of the practice to try to reduce electronic waste, the executive arm of the European Union has decided to continue in its intent, aiming to have in a few years a market represented only by rechargeable devices with this type of cable. Whether you have an Android smartphone, an iPad, a camera or a video game console, you will no longer have to go crazy between adapters or cables to take with you: you will already know that the USB-C cable will be enough and advanced for all your devices. The manufacturers will also be forced to make their quick charging standards to interoperable and to provide information to customers on the charging standards supported by their device; Only in this way, users can buy new devices without an included charger.
All the chargers on the market at the moment
After the proposal in commission, a vote of the European Parliament will now be needed to make the entry into force of the new rule official. A go -ahead that seems not to be under discussion given the broad support for the main political groups: if the provision is adopted, the producers will have two years of time to get in order. The objective of the standard is to reduce the production of electronic waste: the idea of having a unique standard will allow us to stop throwing away the old cables trying to reduce the load of 12.6 million tons of electronic garbage that was recorded in 2016. enormous steps have been made on the topic, with the number of charger passed from the 30 different models of 2009 to the 3 standard types currently on the market, and the introduction of a universal charger should, at least on paper, determine economic advantages for consumers , considering that today the cost of an original charger reaches 35 euros.
Because Apple is against
But the only real company that risks getting back is Apple, which would be forced to give up the historic Lightning connector on its iPhones to make the big leap towards the USB-C (already present for years instead on MacBooks and iPads).But if the apple has decided not to do it over the past few years, it is likely that it does not consider it is the most effective solution for its smartphones for which it could also decide to get around the new rule: goodbye not only to lightning but to any type ofconnector, choosing an exclusively wireless recharge.On the other hand, it was precisely the EU commissioner, Thierry Breton, who specified at the press conference that the new rule does not apply to devices that use only wireless charging, so it could be the ideal move for the Cupertino company.
Pending developments, the giant led by Tim Cook said he did not agree with the proposal of a universal charger: «We are concerned that a rigorous regulation that imposes only one type of connector suffocate innovation instead of encouraging it, which whichIn turn, he will damage consumers in Europe and worldwide, "a company spokesman told Reuters, adding that a move of this type risks creating new electronic waste, since he will force people to throw away their existing lightning accessoriesif they will be incompatible with the new universal standard.
How much this novelty would cost
Some associations to protect consumers also of the same opinion: "It is only an apparent advantage, because the producers of mobile phones could refer to the smaller earnings deriving from the EU decision by increasing the retail prices of their products and therefore re -enlarged on consumers.It is no coincidence that against the universal charger, the first company to take action was Apple, with a special study according to which the measure would determine an increase in costs for consumers estimated at 1.5 billion euros "warns Luigi Gabriele, president of consumerism.
The efforts to convince smartphone producers to use the same charging standard in the EU date back to 10 years ago, when the European Union convinced Apple, Samsung, Huawei, Motorola and Nokia to tighten a voluntary pact that led to the common standard.From there the micro-USB was born and, more recently, the USB-C, but without reaching a real universal connector.The only concrete result was to "separate" the charger from the cable, giving us the opportunity to change it and also use it with different devices.