Starting Saturday, December 28, all small and medium-sized portable electronic devices, including smartphones, sold in the EU must be compatible with USB-C charging ports.
Starting Saturday, December 28, all small and medium-sized portable electronic devices, including smartphones, sold in the EU must be compatible with USB-C charging ports.
According to Euronews, in addition to smartphones, this requirement of regulatory authorities applies to tablets, cameras, headphones, game consoles, players and all other similar gadgets, which must now be equipped with a Type-C port. Interestingly, laptop manufacturers still have time to prepare for the requirement: for large gadgets, this rule will come into effect from April 28, 2026.
«These rules aim to tackle the tonnes of waste generated by discarded chargers and save around €250 million each year for EU households by eliminating unnecessary purchases of additional chargers,» said Anna Cavazzini, Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection.
Thus, in her words, it «marks a decisive step towards consumer convenience and environmental responsibility.»
The European Parliament, in turn, said it would «closely monitor» how manufacturers adapt to these changes. After all, as the publication writes, electronic device manufacturers have long resisted the EU’s attempts to standardize charging technologies.
Interestingly, according to Macrumors, Apple is removing the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, and iPhone SE 3 from its online store in most EU countries precisely because of the entry into force of this law.
Recall, dev.ua wrote back in 2022 that in 2024, USB-C will finally become mandatory for all devices in Europe, including Apple.
At the same time, Apple presented the transition from Lightning to USB-C as a big victory, rather than a forced decision due to EU laws.
