EU rules on common chargers apply to laptops from today. It means that all new laptops sold in the European Union must now support USB-C charging.
In December 2024, the rules came into force for mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, headphones, videogame consoles, and portable speakers.
Laptop manufacturers were given a longer lead in time to allow for redesign and transition to the common charging system.
The article doesn’t mention the requirement’s 100W limit.
Edit: Per reply, the regulation is designed with 240W accounted for, and updatable in case of further improvements to the standard.
Putting “Universal” back in “USB”
I bet it’s not available on Jupiter.
and it’ll take a few million years for Andromeda to get the news
Let’s change that.
Send Elon.
He said “Jupiter”, not “the Sun”.
Oh no the innovation will suffer! How are the laptop makers going to screw the consumers now?
Now make them put a port on each side of the laptop!
What if the ports are recessed and you have built in dongles you can swap to change the port type on either slot?
Oh wait, framework did it :)
So the shape of the plug is the same for all devices regardless of the spec… doesn’t it just make things more confusing for non techies? I can already see people saying their new laptop is broken because their 5v 0.67A power brick won’t charge it, or buying a USB-c charger just to find out it doesn’t work. A lot of aftermarket chargers claim to support up to 120W etc. Except they mean 120W is a sum of all ports for a 6 port charger so really it’s only 20W. For techies it can get annoying too if you like to play with hardware. You can just feed appropriate voltage DC over those barrel connectors, for example from a car battery with a buck converter or AA/18650 in series and it will work while usb-c charging needs to be negotiated.
There has been a lot of marketing done towards non techies regarding charge speeds, so most common people do know about it. Plus most people will also just buy the one the companies will suggest or bundle.
A little side thing that’s also important is that in Europe the salespeople aren’t simply trying to get you to buy their product with the highest markup, which means you’ll get people that will actually look up your laptop and sell you a correct charger.
Aftermarket crap is a thing though, but from what I’ve seen most people will understand it’s because they bought cheap Chinese stuff.
If you plug in a weak charger or an inadequate cable you will get a message on the screen saying as much. Also, the new law doesn’t prevent manufacturers shipping proprietary chargers alongside USB-C.
Yeah right, my laptop supports usb c charging, but it came with the usual power brick that I use if I need a faster charge.
Nope.
Apple in shambles
Macs have had USB-C charging since 2015.
This was, in many respects, a downgrade, since Apple’s proprietary MagSafe was seen by many as a valuable feature. Power cords that pop out rather than yanking the laptop off the desk if someone trips over it are pretty handy.
In 2021 Apple started re-including MagSafe on their laptops. But since doing so, the USB-C ports have also been able to charge the laptop.
So since 2015 they’ve been compliant with this law, and since 2021 they’ve had the best of both worlds, with either option working.
My MacBook Air has MagSafe, and I love it. I sometimes charge with USB-C, but very, very rarely. Not least because it only has two USB sockets.
Iphones still using usb2 over usbc
Ah ok, I thought they were tied to magsafe
The problem with this is they mandate something in the law and then there comes along a new and better option that nobody can use because there’s a stupid law…
Personally I still want to see more people do that contact connector that was in the dock of my Motorola Xoom.
The law says that the laptop needs to support USB-C charging, not that it can’t have other means. Like MacBooks that has the MagSafe charger - they can also use USB-C to charge.
The problem with that is the corporations love to save a penny or two on hardware, no matter how much worse it makes the product, specifying one seems like a good way to make them just use that even if there is something better.
Then just change the law when the time comes?
You’ve seen what a well oiled machine legislation is, no?
Nothing better than usb c will ever come along.
Besides we’re in late stage PC so we’ll all be analog before you know it.
Jesus Christ. Did your parents have any children that lived? What a stupid comment.
Herp Derp UR DUM!
/me looks for reasoning beyond the malicious childish moronitude. Finds none.
C’mon, constructive or GTFO.
