Tuesday

19th Mar 2024

EU unveils common charger plan - forcing Apple redesign

  • The new proposal could help consumers save €250m a year (Photo: Aaron Hockley)
Listen to article

The European Commission announced on Thursday (23 September) its long-awaited plans to make USB-C the standard charging port for all smartphones, tablets, and other small electronic devices - forcing Apple to redesign one of its best-selling products, the iPhone.

More than a decade ago, when there were more than 30 different types of chargers in the market, the EU urged phone manufacturers to agree on a common standard for smartphone chargers. Most of them did, but not all.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

  • Smartphones, tablets, cameras, headphones, portable speakers and handheld video game consoles will be forced to have USB-C ports (Photo: Maurizio Pesce)

Today there are still three charger types - USB 2.0 Micro B, USB-C and Apple's Lightning.

"European consumers were frustrated long enough about incompatible chargers piling up in their drawers," said the EU commissioner in charge of digital policy, Margrethe Vestager.

But manufacturers of smartphones, tablets, cameras, headphones, portable speakers and handheld video game consoles sold in the EU will now be forced to have USB-C charging ports. They will also have to make their fast-charging interoperable.

The aim is to reduce the environmental footprint associated with their production, enabling consumers to reuse chargers when buying a new device.

Under the commission proposal, consumers will also be able to purchase a new electronic device without a new charger.

Electronic chargers have been estimated to produce more than 51,000 metric tons of 'e-waste' per year in the EU, where the total such waste generated in 2016 was 12.3 million metric tonnes - an equivalent to 16.6 kg on average per inhabitant.

According to the commission, the new proposal could help consumers save €250m a year, reducing e-waste by almost a thousand tonnes yearly.

"This is an important win for our consumers and environment," said Vestager.

Other products like e-readers or smart-watches were not considered, for technical reasons linked to their size or use conditions. Wireless chargers have also been left out of the scope of the reevaluation.

Biting Apple?

The proposal will potentially have the biggest impact on Apple - because the company has been trying to keep its own port connector since it launched the first iPhone back in 2007.

"We remain concerned that strict regulation mandating just one type of connector stifles innovation rather than encouraging it, which in turn will harm consumers in Europe and around the world," the company responded in a statement.

However, some Apple devices currently have USB C, such as the iPad Pro or MacBook Air. The tech giant previously argued that such legislation would in the short-term create "an unprecedented volume of electronic waste".

The EU commissioner for the internal market, Thierry Breton, stressed the proposal is not aimed at any one operator - arguing that companies could choose to redesign their devices to have an additional port beside the USB C.

"If Apple wants to continue to have their own plug, they will have the ability to do it. It's not against innovation, it's just to make the lives of our fellow citizens a little bit easier," Breton told reporters at a press briefing.

According to an EU Commission study, half of the chargers sold in the EU in 2018 had a USB micro-B port, while 29 percent had a USB C connector and 21 percent a Lightning connector.

Although a consumer, on average, owns around three mobile phone chargers, 38 percent of people report being unable to charge their mobile phone at least once because the chargers available were incompatible.

USB-C chargers are expected to become mandatory in 2024 or even later.

Both MEPs and member states will have to green-light the proposal.

MEPs urge binding rules for common chargers by July

MEPs demanded the European Commission ensure immediate EU regulatory action on common chargers for all mobile devices by July, enabling users to easily re-use old devices and reducing e-waste.

Investigation

MEPs slam Commission over common charger delay

Citing an EUobserver investigation, MEPs on the consumer protection committee have slammed the EU Commission for allowing Apple to get away with refusing to comply with a common smartphone charger for over a decade.

Investigation

How Apple lobbied EU to delay common smartphone charger

iPhones and Android products don't use the same charger. This is annoying for consumers and harmful for the environment. Old chargers produce more than 51,000 tons of electronic waste per year.

Industry agrees on standardised EU phone charger

Searching for a phone charger that works with your phone will soon be a thing of the past, as the world's ten major mobile phone manufacturers have agreed to produce a harmonised charger for users across Europe, with the first such chargers expected to be introduced on the EU market next year. The industry's agreement, pushed by the European Commission, is not legally binding, however.

EU adopts common charger law, forces iPhone redesign

The days of pilling up obsolete chargers in drawers and groping around to find the correct one are coming to an end. MEPs adopted new rules forcing all phone manufacturers to offer a common charging solution by autumn 2024.

Opinion

Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers

The UN could launch an independent international investigation into Navalny's killing, akin to investigation I conducted on Jamal Khashoggi's assassination, or on Navalny's Novichok poisoning, in my role as special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, writes the secretary-general of Amnesty International.

Latest News

  1. Borrell: 'Israel provoking famine', urges more aid access
  2. Europol: Israel-Gaza galvanising Jihadist recruitment in Europe
  3. EU to agree Israeli-settler blacklist, Borrell says
  4. EU ministers keen to use Russian profits for Ukraine ammo
  5. Call to change EIB defence spending rules hits scepticism
  6. Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers
  7. EU summit, Gaza, Ukraine, reforms in focus this WEEK
  8. The present and future dystopia of political micro-targeting ads

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us