EU lawmakers will be convening to agree on a common charging port for smartphones, tablets, headphones, and other mobile devices this Tuesday, according to an exclusive report from Reuters. The new standard that the EU is expected to settle upon is USB-C, a connector that’s already been adopted by many manufacturers for its friendly design and support for up to 240 watts of charging power as part of the USB-IF’s new 2.1 specification. Apple has been extremely unhappy over the proposal, as the majority of its devices leverage the competing Lightning connector, prompting some significant design changes for its future hardware. The company has reportedly been testing new iPhone models with a USB-C port instead of Lightning already.
Outstanding issues include broadening the scope of the proposal to laptops, a key demand by EU lawmakers that is likely to impact Samsung (005930.KS) and Huawei [RIC:RIC:HWT.UL] and other device makers, the people said.
EU lawmakers also want to include wireless charging systems to be harmonised by 2025 while EU countries and the Commission wants a longer lead-in period for technical reasons.
Apple was not immediately available for comment. It has previously said the inappropriate use of dated international standards stifles innovation and that forcing users to change to new chargers could create a mountain of electronic waste.
Source: Reuters