EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones

Re:EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones by danaris on Monday January 13, 2020 @08:50AM (#22034415)

The iPad is already moving to USB-C; it's very likely that Apple was already planning to move to USB-C for iPhone chargers within the next year or so (whether because they foresaw a change like this coming, because they felt it was the right thing to do, or just because they, too, want to reduce the number of different connections they have to deal with on the manufacturing side).

There are problems with USB-C, however—one of those being that some USB-C charger and cable combinations will simply fry your phone due to being wildly out of spec.

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Re:EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones by gmueckl on Monday January 13, 2020 @09:32AM (#22034738)

This potential for frying devices is a good indication that USB has become far too complex in the latest iteration. Maybe there is a net gain in splitting power and signaling into two separate connectors? Like, move power supply to a separate USB-A like port. USB-A has larger contact pads, anyway. The data lines on the port could then be used to negotiate a power profile.

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Re:EU: Call to introduce common charger for all mobile phones by danaris on Monday January 13, 2020 @10:48AM (#22035446)

I don't think this is a technical problem so much as it is a political one, on two levels: First, that the spec for USB-C was allowed to have so many variations that it's very hard to know what you're going to get if you plug a connector in (is it USB 3.1? 2.0? Does it support power delivery? At what amperage? Is it actually Thunderbolt 3? etc.), and second, that a fair number of just totally out-of-spec—and thus, essentially counterfeit—products are being (or at least have been) sold on Amazon and similar places for some time.

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