Uniform charging cables for smartphones could avoid a lot of electrical waste. After all, under pressure from the EU Commission, there are only three charging sockets left. But that’s not enough for the authority.
One cable for everyone: The EU Commission wants to make a legislative proposal on Thursday for uniform charging sockets on cell phones, tablets and other electrical devices.
The responsible internal market commissioner Thierry Breton will hold a press conference at noon on a “uniform solution for charging devices for electronic devices”, the Brussels authority announced on Wednesday.
It could also be discussed whether the devices should be delivered with a power supply at all. Business Insider and other media had previously reported on the long-awaited move to avoid a lot of electronic waste. At the beginning of 2020, the EU Parliament asked the EU Commission to develop regulations for uniform charging technology.
The question of chargers has been preoccupying the EU institutions for more than a decade. In 2009, 14 cell phone manufacturers – including Apple – agreed to a uniform standard for power supplies under pressure from the EU Commission. When it comes to sockets in smartphones and tablet computers, there were still three of the dozen types that were once left: the now obsolete micro-USB, the newer USB-C and the thinner “Lightning” connectors from Apple. Since then, however, consumers have been waiting in vain for a uniform socket.
Most recently, the pandemic pushed the topic off the EU Commission’s agenda. The now expected legislative proposal is likely to be a nuisance, especially for the iPhone company Apple. Apple wants to keep its in-house Lightning connector, which is currently installed in all iPhones, but also in some tablet models such as the current iPad 9. Other iPad models already have a USB-C socket.
Apple argues that all power supplies are based on USB-C anyway. With the compulsory abolition of the Lightning socket, a large amount of additional electronic waste will be created. The iPhone group no longer includes a power supply unit with its current iPhone models, because these are often already available in households.
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