EU: USB-C will be mandatory on December 28, 2024

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After the EU Commission presented the draft for a law this October, which is intended to make USB-C the standard connection for wired charging within the EU, this is now a decided matter, will come into effect on 27 . December 2022, making USB-C mandatory for many classes of devices by December 28, 2024.

So far, the EU Commission had only promised implementation by the end of 2024, now there is a concrete date of December 28, 2024. From the effective date, USB-C for wired charging of mobile phones such as smartphones, tablets, digital cameras, headphones, headsets, handheld game consoles, mobile loudspeakers, e-readers, keyboards, mice, portable navigation systems, earbuds (in-ear -headphones) and later also notebooks. For notebooks, however, the regulation does not have to be implemented until April 28, 2026.

Apple doesn't necessarily have to use USB-C

Many electronics manufacturers are already using USB-C, especially in smartphones. Apple is currently still a prominent exception – at least with the iPhone and certain accessories such as the AirPods, which use Apple's own Lightning standard. The regulation that will apply from December 28, 2024 would theoretically give Apple time to switch from Lightning to USB-C until the iPhone 17 is presented in autumn 2025. According to reports from Bloomberg and the analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is expected to use USB-C with the upcoming iPhone 15 from 2023. At the end of October this year, Apple told the Wall Street Journal that it wanted to comply with local laws.

Strictly speaking, however, Apple does not have to rely on USB-C, because the law only applies to wired charging. Should Apple one day introduce an iPhone without any ports at all, as has already been speculated on several occasions after the SIM slot was completely eliminated in the iPhone 14 generation in the USA, Apple could circumvent the regulation. The guidelines published today by the EU Commission explicitly only mention wired charging.

Harmonization for wireless charging

< p class="p text-width">There is still no comparable law for wireless charging, but the EU Commission also wants to take action in this area. In the future, harmonization in the interests of consumers should also be examined for this loading method.

Furthermore, the basis must be created for adapting to future scientific and technical advances or market developments, which are continuously monitored by the Commission. In particular, it should also be examined in future whether harmonization of the charging interfaces and charging protocols for radio equipment that can be charged other than with a wired charging function, including via radio waves (wireless charging), should be initiated. In addition, as part of the future adaptation of the harmonized charging solutions, it should be examined whether further categories or classes of radio equipment with wired charging function should be systematically included, provided that the integration of the harmonized charging solutions for these further categories or classes of radio equipment is technically feasible.

EU Commission

USB Power Delivery becomes mandatory

The guidelines of The EU Commission also stipulates that the USB Power Delivery (USB-PD) standard must be used for wired charging with a voltage of more than 5 volts and a current of more than 3 amps or a power of more than 15 watts. This applies to all of the previously mentioned device classes. If an additional charging protocol is used, the full functionality of the USB Power Delivery charging protocol must be ensured by the provider, regardless of the power supply used.