EU to Apple: “Use Standard Chargers, You Cowards!”

Whenever I write about Apple tech, even Apple tech I’m really excited about, I end up reflexively mentioning the aggravating design decisions the company stubbornly sticks to. I’m still mad, all these years later, about them saying it was “courageous” to ditch the widely used headphone jack in favor of a purely proprietary port. I think the phrase “anti-consumer” gets thrown around a little too often these days as a way to add some dubious self-righteousness to your whining. I do worry my Apple complaints fall into this same category. However, a recent decision from the European Union says these complaints are in fact very valid.

In a decisive 582-40 vote, the EU Parliament said yes on creating a standard charging solution for all mobile tech companies to adopt. This doesn’t necessarily mean throwing out all existing chargers and starting from scratch. It just means these companies need to all get on the same page with, say, USB-C, the new standard most of them are gravitating toward anyway. From Surface Pro tablets to Arctis gaming headsets. Even old-fashioned Nintendo features USB-C in its modern devices.

The most obvious holdout is Apple. MacBooks use USB-C already. However, the widely popular iPhone currently only sports a proprietary Lightning port. Rumors of USB-C iPhones have cropped up before. But this EU ruling might finally force the issue.

However, Apple isn’t going to make its tech more democratic without a fight. Along with consumer convenience, the EU’s rationale for this resolution is to reduce waste that comes from multiple competing standards. But Apple argues that creating all the legacy adapters necessary for the transition would in fact create more waste, if even temporarily. Wireless charging is also becoming a bigger priority. And working out those standards presents its own problems, problems Apple has already encountered in power mat public failures.

Getting everything onto one standard may not happen overnight, but I do hope it does happen. If GDPR is even proof, even regulations designed for EU may end up improving global standards overall… European voltage differences notwithstanding. If this resolution does pass though, will Britain still get to keep proprietary iPhones? They’ll empathize with the dumb self-imposed isolation.

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