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Informal-Notice-4274 t1_ir1e06u wrote

I feel like apple would rather just remove the charging port than switch to USB-C.

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Lorion97 t1_ir1ihnc wrote

All apple phones now come with a wireless charger that has it's own kind of plug and scans if your phone is apple or not.

Bypasses the "phone chargers must all be the same".

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Aceticon t1_ir1yi3g wrote

The rule is for phones and other devices that need charging, not chargers, so having a wireless charger which you do your own way does not "bypass" the rule.

The phone must support charging according to a specific set of specifications, so Apple has no other option than to "support charging according to a specific set of specifications" on their devices, which they will likely do by providing a charging port according to those specs along with their proprietary wireless charging.

If their phones did not support charging following the spec defined in the rules, no matter how many other alternative charging methods they provided their phones would still not be compliant and would not be allowed for sale in the EU as what's demanded is "you must support at least this".

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EMPulseKC t1_ir4ht4k wrote

Apple: "You can use the Apple FlashPad to charge your devices, or you can subscribe to our USB-C port unlock feature for €50/month that will allow you to use the included standard port for charging your device at a much slower rate. Okay, European iPhone users, what do you choose?"

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Aceticon t1_ir4pdnp wrote

EU regulator: "This product is not Compliant and cannot be sold in the EU. Any devices already on sale must be removed from sale. Here's a fine based on Apple's Worldwide Revenue for having hidden this built-in charge limitation mechanism in their application for the CE mark".

(And possibly whomever decided to hide such a mechanism in their application for compliance would, separatelly and as an individual, be charged with the crime of Fraud).

The best that Apple would be able to do here is appeal it all to the highest courts of the EU, were they would loose and meanwhile their phone would be blocked from sale in the 2nd largest market of the World.

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Raymoundgh t1_ir4patc wrote

Block sales of iPhone in EU. EU should also pass a law blocking charging EU citizens significantly more than the US.

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creamy_cucumber t1_irbbwhq wrote

Excerpt from the EU directive:

>Hand-held mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, headphones, headsets, handheld videogame consoles and portable speakers, in so far as they are capable of being recharged via wired charging, shall:

> (a) be equipped with the USB Type-C receptacle, as described in the standard EN IEC 62680-1-3:2021 ‘Universal serial bus interfaces for data and power - Part 1-3: Common components - USB Type-CTM Cable and Connector Specification’, which should remain accessible and operational at all times;

You can bypass the usb-c requirement by removing wired charging all together.

Source: https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/46755

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Aceticon t1_irc3t2u wrote

Elsewhere:

"This paragraph requires items of radio equipment, listed in a new Annex (Part I) added by the proposal, to comply with the charging interface and charging communication protocol described in that new Annex."

There's also a whole bit about the Comission giving itself powers to change the rules for devices which are not charged wirelessly.

You can't just read one bit of a proposal for ammendment without the context of the Directive 2014/53/EU which is the one being ammended and think you found some kind of loophole that nobody else saw.

I mean, you can, but that's just slightly megalomaniac fantasising.

If Apple does try to see if they can go around, I'm sure the courts will be happy to deliberate on whether they are compliant with the ammended Directive 2014/53/EU as whole or not, all the while Apple's phones are blocked from sale in the EU (the way compliance is designed for the Single Market is not having the supplier getting to sell their products whilst its compliance is in dispute as that would open a massive backdoor for the sale of knowingly non-compliant devices during the time it took for things to go through court in the end they would just stop selling having pocketed the money in the meanwhile and start it all over again with a new product).

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thastealth t1_ir27co1 wrote

Well Apple has one other option: not sell to the EU market. In this case the money they loose is bigger than the cost of implementing this/loosing out on their proprietary crap, so they’ll do it

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Aceticon t1_ir2ae6m wrote

Calling that an "option" is like saying that sepukku is an "option" for curing a flu - strictly speaking it's true but practically speaking it's not because of the massive downsides.

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thastealth t1_ir2ar2u wrote

Well you can bet your right lung on it that Apple made the calculations if they would pull out of the EU.

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HopefulEuclid t1_ir2nk3w wrote

Yeah no Apple didn't consider pulling out of the EU over a charging port, much like Facebook and Google didn't considering pulling out over GDPR. The EU is a larger market than even the US, they'd be looking at double digit percentage profit drops, and no publicly traded company is explaining to investors why their stock price just took an apocalyptic hit over dumb shit like that. Anything the EU mandates is basically an inconvenience to tech giants.

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Chubbybellylover888 t1_ir35gh0 wrote

It's our secret power. This soft power of the EU has not gone unrecognised.

I worked in consumer electronics in Asia. They all manufcfittied to EU standards when pushed by the spec. And the spec was written thst way because once you comply EU standards, you comply with most standards with an exception here and there.

Their impact on product standards has not gone unnoticed.

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dokks t1_ir5dd3l wrote

Curious, do you have any links that detail how the EU is a larger market than the US? Not a snark I'm genuinely interested and apparently my Google-fu isn't up to snuff.

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HopefulEuclid t1_ir5ykh6 wrote

US population: 329.5 million EU population: 447.7 million

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dokks t1_ir65cpq wrote

Ok so you're talking only population size. Sure.

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HopefulEuclid t1_ir68n54 wrote

When comparing developed nations for simple consumer products there's not really any other factor. For non-consumer industries or specialty products like firearms there'd be other considerations, but phones are basically sold everywhere. I'm sure if China made the same charging connector demand of Apple they'd comply.

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SanityOrLackThereof t1_ir2wvst wrote

Europe is the second largest economy in the world. Apple is not going to pull out of anything.

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Aceticon t1_ir4o1wl wrote

Again the sepukku metaphor applies: they've considered it like somebody considers openning their guts with a sword when their cough gets too much and their fever a little high due to flu - maybe a fleeting idea that passed through a person's mind and was quickly dismissed, leaving behind nothing but a slight awkward feeling for having even thought about it.

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psychocopter t1_ir3d6i1 wrote

If somehow they manage to skirt around this legislation by removing the charging port they probably won't include a charging cable/brick in the box. Everyone seems to be moving away from offering a charging cable with their device and trying to justify it every which way to avoid saying it was to make them more money.

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Bensemus t1_is7rprc wrote

Apple still includes a cable. They don't include the brick. The EU is looking to make this law too to reduce on e-waste.

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Landmen t1_ir3dkxf wrote

If they all went wireless charging I would be perfectly fine with that. Or a magsafe style connector. USB C standards are far too fucked up right now.

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psychocopter t1_ir6fy5v wrote

Nah, wireless should be an included option, not the only option. Have you ever used your phone while it was charging? An actual cable makes that much easier. Mag safe is another proprietary charging method that nothing outside of apples ecosystem uses. Also how are usb c standards fucked up? Are you talking about usb in general with gen 1, 2, 3.1 gen 1, 3.1 gen 2, and thunderbolt? You do know that magsafe also uses usb right?

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Landmen t1_ir7rswu wrote

I can't just buy a cable that provides me the fastest possible charging speed plus data transfer without doing a ton of research. That's my problem with USB c. Then there is the issue compatible chargers.

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psychocopter t1_ir8xwr1 wrote

Yes you can, you're only considering an apple branded magsafe charger when third party versions exist that require you to do the same research(its usb c to magsafe, even if the magsafe connector is standardized the rest of the cable and usb c connector may not be). The same goes with lightning. That would be like considering samsung usb c chargers as the one and only cable you can buy. These aren't really problems that actually exist, you can very easily find a high speed reputable type c charger, if Apple is forced to support type c then you'd also be able to just buy apple's type c cable if you dont trust another brand. My problem with lightning is that only iphones use them, the ipad, MacBook, etc use type c, it works on nothing else so it becomes ewasye should you switch to a different phone(the longer they force lightning the more e-waste is produced). On top of it lightning is a worse cable than type c, it cannot support the power delivery and data transfer that type c can, its just overall a worse cable. Apple switching to type c doesn't make an iPhone less apple, it just makes it a better device with a cable that can be used for more than one device.

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MrWoodlawn t1_ir3kh42 wrote

Gatekeeping innovation always has unintended consequences.

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