According to information released by the European Union, about 38 percent of mainland India consumers find it difficult to occasionally charge their cell phones because they cannot find a suitable charger.
And among us, who does not have a drawer in the house laden with chargers, adapters and cables with outdated and dusty connections, which will probably stay there forever?
IPhone without charging socket ?, Photo: Illustration
But there is a light at the edge of the drawer: it is very possible that in two or three years Europe will move to a single, uniform USB standard, which all technology manufacturers will have to implement in their new devices. Although these are mainly smartphones, wireless headphones, tablets, portable consoles, cameras and portable speakers are also in the spotlight. The purpose of the union, which yesterday drafted a bill on the subject, is to move the entire continent to the common and advanced USB-C standard, thus making it easier for the consumer and even reducing the enormous amounts of e-waste accumulating in the world. The union also wants to require companies to remove the chargers from the devices' packaging, and to allow consumers to purchase original chargers as a single product. For if all the products work with the same charger, it will no longer be necessary to purchase a new charger every time. Simple logic.
Since almost all new Android devices carry a USB-C charging socket, the proposed law does not really affect most manufacturers.
The main loser from the story is of course Apple, which is already waging a long battle on the issue with the EU - a battle that has escalated in the last day.
Although Apple incorporates USB-C sockets in laptops and some of its iPad models, which require higher charging voltage, all of the company's iPhones still use the Lightning connection so identified with Apple, and about 20 percent of all smartphones sold in Europe support this standard (in other words, One in five European phones is an iPhone).
USB-C connection is also found in Apple mobiles, Photo: Screen
If the bill is passed, companies (i.e., mostly Apple) will be given a 24-month adjustment period to adjust their production lines to the new requirements.
However, it is not inconceivable that Apple will completely give up a charging socket on future iPhones, and will switch to wireless charging only.
