EU to mandate USB Type C connector

[JimboKeys]

EU mandatory legislative action for USB Type-C standardization

Though this does not directly affect musical instruments and such, i think it does sound a death knell for the old A/B connectors.

Thoughts ?

[analogika]

This is only relevant for actual power supply connectors, and according to your article: 

 

The categories of devices that will be impacted by the Commission's proposal by the end of 2024 include:

Handheld mobile phones

Tablets

Digital cameras

Headphones

Headsets

Handheld video game consoles

Portable speakers

E-readers

Keyboards

Mice

Portable navigation systems

Earbuds

Laptops (starting in spring 2026)

 

That’s it. 
 

As for the death of USB A/B: I’m all for it. My computers haven’t had a usb-A port in seven years. 

[Anderton]

It's also specifically about rechargeable devices - "Any rechargeable electronic device utilizing a wired cable for power delivery up to 100 W will be obligated to feature a USB Type-C receptacle." The goal is to cut down on e-waste. And it might make life easier with respect to having a lot of weird proprietary adapters sitting around. 

 

I say "might" because USB-C is a connector. Whether it can do Thunderbolt or USB 3.2 is up to the device itself. Also note that USB-C connectors can have different power ratings. The power supply that charges your phone isn't going to be the same one that charges your laptop. So while I applaud of the concept of trying to make less e-waste and make it so that consumers won't go through adapter hell, implementing it might be more complex than expected.

 

The only connector it's going to put out of business long-term is Apple's Lightning connector, which was the first reversable power connector. However, it can't supply power to larger electronics, like laptops. Also, the USB-C connector is nominally more durable.

 

There are fees involved with using USB-C or Lightning connectors commercially, and using the appropriate logo.

[Anderton]

After thinking about it...this probably means you'll buy adapters based on power rating, not connector. Like a lower-wattage version for phones and tablets, a medium version for smaller laptops, and a high-power version for devices that need that much power.

[analogika]

6 hours ago, Anderton said:

After thinking about it...this probably means you'll buy adapters based on power rating, not connector. Like a lower-wattage version for phones and tablets, a medium version for smaller laptops, and a high-power version for devices that need that much power.

yep. 
 

one upshot I’m already seeing is that my MacBook Pro will happily charge off the iPad power supply — albeit slowly. 
 

the USB-C connector is finicky and is probably more susceptible to lint collection than Lightning (or at least not as easily cleaned), but being able to use whatever is there in a pinch is a huge boon. 

[Anderton]

8 hours ago, analogika said:

the USB-C connector is finicky and is probably more susceptible to lint collection than Lightning (or at least not as easily cleaned), but being able to use whatever is there in a pinch is a huge boon. 

 

Yes, it's always about pros and cons, isn't it? Although the Lightning connector fits more snugly, the host connector is harder to clean than USB-C. Buit if there's a mechanical cable failure at the connector, it's more likely the USB-C port will be damaged than the Lightning port. This is not a happy thought - I'd rather replace a cable than a port's connector.

 

Much has been made of the fact that USB-C can transfer data much faster. But Apple limits the transfer speed to USB 2.0 (the same maximum as Lightning) on the iPhone 15, and increases that to USB 3.0 speeds on the iPhone 15 Max. Samsung isn't any better - the Galaxy S23 runs at USB 2.0, with only the higher-end S23 ultra doing USB 3.0.

 

The other good news/bad news is that Apple Lightning cables are more expensive (licensing fees are involved), but they can be MFI-certified so you can trust them. USB-C cables can be pretty much made by anyone and their quality varies more.

 

One thing that's overlooked is why Apple stuck with Lightning for over 10 years. First of all, Apple only projected 10 years for Lightning before moving on to something faster and able to transfer power better. But I'd like to think it was also so that Apple wouldn't render a ton of iPhone accessories, adapters, and chargers obsolete. You could keep buying a new iPhone every year - which of course would make Apple happy  - but you wouldn't need to replace the accessories you bought for previous iPhones.

 

 

[analogika]

22 hours ago, Anderton said:

Much has been made of the fact that USB-C can transfer data much faster. But Apple limits the transfer speed to USB 2.0 (the same maximum as Lightning) on the iPhone 15, and increases that to USB 3.0 speeds on the iPhone 15 Max.

 

This is a widespread misconception. Lightning was never limited to USB 2.0 — the Lightning 12.9" and 10.5" iPads Pro can do USB 3.0 speeds over Lightning using Apple's own Camera Connector. 

They limit USB 3 to the iPhone 15 Max because that does Apple log video, with its associated huge file sizes. 

 

 

22 hours ago, Anderton said:

The other good news/bad news is that Apple Lightning cables are more expensive (licensing fees are involved), but they can be MFI-certified so you can trust them. USB-C cables can be pretty much made by anyone and their quality varies more.

 

Yes. The promise of USB-C has been utterly destroyed, because all the variation of connectors that have dedicated functionality has now been "simplified" into a variation of cables, where it's impossible to tell what they do without testing them. 

 

 

22 hours ago, Anderton said:

One thing that's overlooked is why Apple stuck with Lightning for over 10 years. First of all, Apple only projected 10 years for Lightning before moving on to something faster and able to transfer power better. But I'd like to think it was also so that Apple wouldn't render a ton of iPhone accessories, adapters, and chargers obsolete. You could keep buying a new iPhone every year - which of course would make Apple happy  - but you wouldn't need to replace the accessories you bought for previous iPhones.

 

Lightning worked well, it scaled well, it was widely adopted, it was fully compatible with the USB-C connectors and chargers slowly supplanting the 25-year-old USB-A connectors. 

[Anderton]

1 hour ago, analogika said:

Lightning was never limited to USB 2.0

 

I was referring to iPhones. The original iPad Pro supported USB 3.0 back in 2015, but for whatever reason, as far as I know the iPhones' lightning interface was always limited to USB 2.0 speeds. 

[techristian]

A thing I recently discovered. NOT ALL USB C CABLES ARE CREATED EQUAL. I forgot about this when I tried to transfer files from my phone onto my computer, the other day. Some cables supply POWER ONLY and have no connections/wires for data transfer.

 

Dan

[analogika]

1 hour ago, techristian said:

A thing I recently discovered. NOT ALL USB C CABLES ARE CREATED EQUAL. […] Some cables supply POWER ONLY and have no connections/wires for data transfer.

 

There is a matrix of various standards for power delivery, data speeds, DisplayPort, HDMI, Thunderbolt 3 specs, Thunderbolt 4 specs, support for daisy-chaining, and probably some others I forget at the moment, all of which can (but need not) be supported by a USB-C port and/or a USB-C cable. 

 

The acknowledged technical term for this matrix is "clusterfuck". 

[Anderton]

1 hour ago, analogika said:

The acknowledged technical term for this matrix is "clusterfuck"

No, that's not correct. The USB-IF spec says the proper nomenclature is Clusterfuque Gen 3.X.B. 

[analogika]

18 minutes ago, Anderton said:

No, that's not correct. The USB-IF spec says the proper nomenclature is Clusterfuque Gen 3.X.B. 

 

That's only at 30W power delivery. 

Full spec is "Clusterfuck Royale". 

[Joe Muscara]

The concern many of us have with this regulation is what happens when we're ready to move past USB-C. It seems set to last a while, but how fast will the EU move when the time comes?

[Anderton]

That's always the question, isn't it? The standard is aimed mostly at consumer gear, and connectors have a longer lifespan than it might appear. For example, the Lightning connector was around for over a decade before USB-C took over. USB was introduced in 1996 (!) and although the connectors and specs have changed over the years, adapters usually let you use older USB devices with modern USB ports. Thunderbolt has been around since 2011, and switched over to the USB-C connector with Thunderbolt 3.

 

So, I suspect the same thing will happen here if a better spec comes along in 10 years. It will be adopted for products going forward, and adapters will be available for compatibility with older gear. At least one can hope, right?