On October 24th local time, European Council approved the bill to "unify charger interface within the scope of European ". This means that from 2024, all types of electronic devices such as mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, etc. sold within the EU must use the Type-C charging interface uniformly. Consumers can also choose whether to purchase a charger if they are purchasing electronic devices. Laptops are allowed to have a grace period of 40 months using a unified charging interface.
Charging devices with different interfaces in the mall
Unified Type-C Bill: passed by high votes
On October 4 this year, the European Parliament passed a bill with 602:13 votes, deciding that from 2024, some consumer electronics products must provide a single USB-C (USB Type-Ch) charging interface.
The bill requires that starting from the end of 2024, all newly launched portable smart devices such as mobile phones and tablets must use the Type-C standard charging interface. By spring 2026, all newly launched laptops will also require a unified use of the Type-C standard charging interface.
In fact, as early as June this year, the bill held a round of negotiations, and it was not mandatory at that time. The passage of the bill this time means it will take effect and become a mandatory standard. According to the European Parliament members, the mandatory requirement for unified mobile phone data interfaces is mainly for environmental protection. Doing so will reduce thousands of tons of electronic waste every year and promote the reuse of old electronic products.
According to the press release issued by the EU, this bill requires that the range of smart devices that use the Type-C interface is very wide, including our most commonly used mobile phones, tablets, laptops and other devices, as well as digital cameras, headphones/headsets, and even keyboards, mice, e-readers and other electronic devices that are not commonly used by the public.
This bill is published in the Official Gazette of the European Union after being signed by the President of the European Parliament and the President of the Council and will take effect 20 days after its publication. The new regulations will begin to be implemented 24 months after they come into effect.
Image source: Screenshot of the European Council website
And on Monday (October 24), the European Council finally approved the bill to "unify the charger interface within the EU". This also means that by 2024, the Type-C interface will become a must-have for a range of electronic devices, such as mobile phones, tablets and headphones.
However, the date of the unified charging interface of the laptop is a little later. According to reports, laptops will be subject to their restrictions 40 months after the regulations come into effect.
This time the EU approved the bill. Perhaps in two years, EU users can "go to the EU with a Type-C line".
Why does the EU need to unify the charging interface standard
The reason why the USB Type-C interface is chosen instead of Apple 's proprietary Lightning ecosystem is mainly because of its openness. USB is a new generation of standard interface bus jointly proposed by major technology companies such as Microsoft , HP , etc. The USB-C charging protocol is formulated and maintained by USB-IF.
According to European Commission , the new agreement aims to make EU products more sustainable, both reducing e-waste and making consumers' lives easier. In the future, cell phones and similar small devices do not need to be equipped with chargers in the packaging box, because buyers already have the right accessories.
EU estimates that the new agreement will allow more chargers to be reused, which can reduce "unnecessary charger purchases" for consumers every year, save up to 250 million euros (currently approximately RMB 1.8 billion), and reduce about 11,000 tons of electronic waste.
In fact, the EU proposed a proposal to unify charging standards in September last year, but the statement was announced after the European Commission, the European Parliament and EU Council held tripartite negotiations and reached an agreement. CNN (CNN) pointed out that the bill still needs to be finalized before it comes into effect, but new news shows that this approval process will be as smooth as a "moment".
reported that the EU tried to formulate a common charging interface standard more than a decade ago and once received industry support for the Micro USB standard, but the agreement reached between major manufacturers expired in 2014.The upcoming Type-C standard may become the first legislation to unify charging interface standards in the EU.
Image source: Network
When will Apple change Type-C?
For this requirement, technology giants can be said to be "some people are happy and some are sad."
is expected to be one of the most affected companies. The new regulations will force it to abandon the use of the Lightning interface and use the Type-C interface that many competitors are already using. However, Reuters reported that the new EU regulations may also have a positive impact on Apple, and may encourage consumers to purchase new Apple products using the Type-C interface.
It is reported that the EU began to promote the unified charging interface of portable smart devices many years ago, but Apple did not buy it, believing that this move hinders innovation. During EU legislation, Apple even argued that the proposed rules would make up to 1 billion devices and accessories using Lightning chargers obsolete.
Of course, patent income is also considered to be one of the important reasons why Apple is unwilling to abandon the Lighting interface.
According to industry insiders, if Apple no longer uses the Lightning interface, it will lose tens of billions of MFi and other authorization fees every year. Type-C does not have this problem. It is publicly authorized and can be used for free. Generally, Apple Lighting starts from official procurement costs about US$2-2.4 per purchase.
It is worth mentioning that information disclosed by the industry chain shows that Apple has long been preparing for the portless version of iPhone , and charging depends entirely on wireless, rather than using Type-C instead.
supply chain sources also revealed that starting from iPhone 15, Apple will have to switch to the Type-C interface. Although it may lose billions of dollars a year, there is no way to do this.
Apple's well-known analyst Kuo Mingchi predicts that Apple may release a new iPhone with Type-C interface in the second half of 2023, and other Apple products based on Lightning interface will also be gradually replaced with Type-C interface.
Source: CCTV Finance
Domestic mainstream mobile phone models have been switched
According to CCTV Finance, in my country, the standardization of mobile phone fast charging technology is also constantly advancing, and many mobile phone companies and chip companies have participated together to lay the foundation for the subsequent development of relevant national standards. In the future, my country may be the first to achieve the unification of charging standards in the field of fast charging.
As of now, the mainstream models launched by domestic mobile phone manufacturers have switched to Type-C interfaces. Some manufacturers said that after learning about the new EU regulations, they plan to introduce three more automated production equipment to specifically weld Type-C charging cables to improve production efficiency. Compared with Apple Lighting, Type-C is more suitable for automated hardware production.
htmlOn September 29, China Communications Standardization Association and the Telecom Terminal Industry Association jointly held a press conference on the results of mobile terminal integration fast charging in Beijing, releasing the first batch of 11 fast charging certification certificates, involving 4 terminals, 5 adapters and 2 chip products from 6 companies.Industry information revealed that the current universal fast charging power of Huawei , Xiaomi , OPPO, and vivo, which have been certified this time, is 40W, and is expected to increase to 65W in the second stage. Although the general power of 40W is still a certain distance from the fast charging power of domestic mobile phones that can often exceed 100 watts, it is already significantly ahead of the charging power of , Samsung , Apple and other overseas brand mobile phones.
Secretary-General of the Telecom Terminal Industry Association Xie Yi said that on the basis of the 11 certified products with fast charging functions, we will track the progress of international fast charging standardization work, promote the transformation of fast charging-related group standards to international standards in a timely manner, and realize the leadership of China's fast charging technology in global standards.
Source: WeChat public account "Caizhi Headlines" comprehensive from: Xinhuanet, CCTV News, Global Network, Jimu News, etc.
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