Landmark decision: USB-C is going to be the common USB port for Apple iPhones and other mobile devices in EU by fall 2024
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Yesterday, June 7, 2022, representatives of the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament reached an agreement on legislation enforcing USB-C to be a common charging port for all mobile phones and other small and medium-sized electronic devices in the EU region.
This historic decision was made as part of a greater EU green initiative with efforts aimed at fighting meaningless overconsumption, making products within the EU more environmentally friendly, reducing the amount of electronic waste and making consumers' life easier.
The new legislation prescribes all portable electronics manufacturers to have their products with wired charging to be equipped with USB-C port as the common charger for European market. This also applies to laptops that will have to adhere to the requirements within the 40 months following the entry of the new law into force.
What this means from the consumers’ perspective is that they will no longer need to have a separate charger and a cable for each piece of portable electronics they buy. Instead, gadget owners will be able to use a single charging set for all of their portable electronics, like mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, headphones, digital cameras, and portable speakers, also extending to keyboards, PC mice, e-readers and handheld navigation devices. Ultimately, this will lead to increased re-use of charging equipment and help consumers save up to 250 million Euro a year on unnecessary purchases of chargers.
The new law also harmonizes charging speed to be consistent for all devices supporting fast charging. This will allow consumers to use any compatible charger to fast-charge their gadgets.
All necessary information on technical specifications will be provided to consumers enabling them to check for compatibility of their existing chargers with new devices. This will help users to make informed decisions on whether they should buy new electronic device with or without a charger.
As for environmental protection, reducing excessive consumption is estimated to help avoid about 11,000 tons of e-waste of annually disposed of and unused chargers.