This month, the European Union announced a mandate that will require all new portable devices like smartphones, earbuds and wireless keyboards to use a common charger by 2024. Two years later, the same rules will apply to new laptops. The new European law requires all devices to use USB-C by 2026.
Although the law will be enforced throughout Europe, it may affect consumers worldwide. That’s because it will most likely be costly for tech companies to make products with different charging technology only for European countries. So we will need to plan accordingly to incorporate that connector into the products we use to recharge our devices, including power bricks and wires.
New VWs sold in the US now only have USB-C interfaces. Of course, since they no longer install CD players, I would be transferring my mix CDs to a flash drive, which is USB.
Looked in the back of a new VW Taos in the showroom a few weeks ago. Along with all the other “options” that you can’t buy a VW without (floor mats, first aid kit, “cargo blocks”) there was a female USB to male USB-C adapter. I didn’t look on the window sticker to see how much they were charging for that adapter. I have seen dealers for other makes charge $200 for nitrogen filling the tires. For those who haven’t had a science class in a while, air is 78% nitrogen.
So we will need to plan accordingly to incorporate that connector into the products we use to recharge our devices, including power bricks and wires.
Wendy
Or you can just buy adaptors on Amazon. I needed a USB C to HDMI adapter to set up my dual monitor on my new intel NUC i7 Mini PC. It arrived in 2 days, works perfectly and they even gave me a coupon for C$4 off the price.
Tim
USB C to HDMI Adapter 4K Cable QGeeM USB Type-C to HDMI Adapter Thunderbolt 3 Compatible with MacBook 2015 above, Macbook pro 2020/2019, Samsung Galaxy S9/S8 above, Surface Book 2, Dell XPS 13/15, Pixelbook More (gray)
Yeah, this creeping change of connectors has been going on as long as there’ve been electronic devices to connect together. You can generally find an adaptor to make do with an older device/connector as necessary. Currently I’m using an old Macbook Air that uses a Mini DisplayPort for the monitor output, which I have an adaptor to convert to an also antiquated DVI cord to drive my flatscreen display, LOL.
Maybe more important than the USB-C mandate for charging, one summary of the new rules, I think, said that inclusion of the charging cable had to be optional. Once you have a few of these transformer/cables how many more do you need? They said, something like 20% of the ones sold now end up in landfills without ever being unwrapped and used.
Of course, some companies will probably try to charge silly high prices to get a charger in the matching color and with a fruit logo on it, you can get them real cheap from many places.