EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

Re:EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024 by Fradow on Tuesday October 04, 2022 @10:27AM (#33080871)

Saying there was no mandate is only technically true. The EU gave an ultimatum to phone companies to make a compatible charger "or else", which led to a "Memorandum of Understanding" [1] deciding on Micro-USB.

Apple didn't follow that Memorandum, the EU got pissed, so now we reached the "or else" part (it took quite some time considering the Memorandum was more than 10 years ago).

[1] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/MEMO_1...

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Re:EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024 by nolok on Tuesday October 04, 2022 @10:29AM (#33080901)

> Apple didn't follow that Memorandum, the EU got pissed

Just to add a step: Samsung got pissed, and told the EU either regulate, or we do our own thing too like Apple.

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Re:EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024 by Fradow on Tuesday October 04, 2022 @10:38AM (#33081026)

I wasn't aware of that, thanks!

Replying to sibling: that 30-pin connector predates the Memorandum. It's exactly such chargers that the EU wanted to regulate at the time. Every company had their own incompatible charger.

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Re:EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024 by mschuster91 on Tuesday October 04, 2022 @10:33AM (#33080958)

Samsung actually had done their own thing - their early tablet lineup also had a 30-pin connector, and of course incompatible with Apple's 30-pin connector.

[1] https://www.amazon.de/Original-Samsung-USB-lDatenkabel-ECC1D...

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Re:EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024 by q3k on Tuesday October 04, 2022 @11:03AM (#33081385)

> and of course incompatible with Apple's 30-pin connector

“Of course” also because Apple's 30-pin connector was only approved for purchase and use by certified (read: paying) third parties.

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Re:EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024 by yellowapple on Tuesday October 04, 2022 @12:08PM (#33082430)

Thankfully the Samsung one was black while the Apple ones were white, making it obvious which one went to my iPod Classic v. my Galaxy Tab 2 :)

But yeah, I absolutely do not miss those 30-pin connectors.

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Re:EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024 by hackerman_fi on Tuesday October 04, 2022 @10:40AM (#33081060)

Apple did release a micro USB -> lightning adapter for 19 €, which I believe was to ”comply” with the rules

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Re:EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024 by avidiax on Tuesday October 04, 2022 @06:10PM (#33087770)

The EU should have required that all marketing must depict a standard connector phone.

So all their ads in the EU would have to show a stupid dongle hanging off the phone, like a vestigial tail.

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Re:EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024 by dahfizz on Tuesday October 04, 2022 @12:08PM (#33082423)

Curious that the "or else" stage doesn't actually enforce the micro-B connector of the original MoU.

If that original legislation was binding, we likely never would have gotten USB-C in the first place.

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Re:EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024 by MichaelZuo on Tuesday October 04, 2022 @10:45AM (#33081137)

'Memorandums of Understanding' are not binding within the EU, not even between different departments in Brussels. They are, at best, strongly worded suggestions.

So this is a significant difference.

As a EU mandate implies that organizations can be prosecuted for ignoring it.

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