USB-C EU
European Parliament forMake USB-C the standard charging headthe motiondone voting, making it law. From the end of 2024, all mobile devices (including mobile phones, tablets, headphones, etc.) sold in the EU within 100W will be required to use USB-C charging, but there will be a longer grace period for laptops, before spring 2026. are still unrestricted. Products that use non-USB-C charging heads should be listed before the deadline.
The purpose of this regulation is to reduce the generation of electronic waste. In addition to allowing users to continue to use the previous chargers, it can also avoid the phenomenon of manufacturers “binding” consumers with exclusive charging heads. In addition to the physical charging head specifications, the EU has also voted to include the 18W fast charging of USB-C PD into the requirements, which means that the USB-C 18W power supply should become the benchmark in the future.
In fact, the EU has tried to implement the generalization of charging heads in a “voluntary” and “encouraged” way for a long time, but it has not achieved “substantial” results, so it has to be regulated by law. In addition to the increasingly rare micro-USB, Apple is not particularly interested in changing to USB-C. In 2020, they also claimed that restricting the use of USB-C would “kill innovation”. . Now Apple basically has no choice. The fastest iPhone model next year, and the latest year after year, Apple will finally transfer the iPhone, AirPods and other products to the USB-C connector.
However, Apple’s concerns are not entirely unreasonable. This decision by the EU will have huge inertia on the industry. Even if there are provisions in the law that allow future standards to be converted to “innovative charging solutions”, basically, unless manufacturers completely abandon the European market, any new charging head will be used. It will not be possible to launch it until the EU sets it as a new standard. USB-C has almost become a world standard before it was accepted by the European Union. If it is a brand new standard, I don’t know how many bureaucratic procedures it will have to go through.