1y ago

Saudi Arabia passes law requiring USB-C charges for smartphones

appleinsider.com Saudi Arabia passes law requiring USB-C charges for smartphones

From 2025, Apple's iPhone and all Android smartphones sold in Saudi Arabia will have to have a USB-C charging port, with laptops to follow in 2026.

Saudi Arabia passes law requiring USB-C charges for smartphones::From 2025, Apple's iPhone and all Android smartphones sold in Saudi Arabia will have to have a USB-C charging port, with laptops to follow in 2026.

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While I agree with the point of these laws, to get everyone on a standard, it's going to suck when the next, better standard comes along and the are all these laws preventing phones from adopting it
- The EU has appointed a committee to reconsider the standards every couple of years and the law allows changing the standard if they decide to. I’m not sure how Saoudi Arabia will deal with this.
- EU attempted to get smartphone manufacturers to agree on a standard so that law wouldn't be necessary to avoid this scenario. Guess which company didn't want to play with the others?
  
  Guess which company is now forced to do it in second revision of the same law or is going to get forbidden from selling their devices in EU. Being an asshole strongarming your way around works for certain countries on this planet that have legalized bribing and call it lobbying. EU doesn't give a shit.
  
  One of the largest Tech companies in the world, is it Orange?
  
  And they didn't want to do it likely because of the previous comment - what don't you understand?
  
  The original proposal was that companies agree by themselves a common standard to use so that legislation wouldn't be needed. They had their chance to go on without legally forced change but they didn't want to.
  Additionally EU has given Apple multiple warnings about not to hinder USB-C functionality like fast charging so that it would only work with their own chargers and cables.
  
  So, they agree to a common standard AFTER Apple has switched to Lightning. These ideas sound so great if you ignore timelines and what really happened when.
  
  The world had subtlety agreed on a different standard (mico usb) when apple decided to do decide to switch to a proprietary one (lightning)
  Granted, micro Usb is shit, but switching to a proprietary standard is worse as you force everyone to have something different.
  Were lightning not proprietary, I could definitely see it overcomming micro usb everywhere
  
  Oh for sure. If lightning had been opened up to everyone I think we'd all be using it now
  
  This thing has been brewing since 2009 and Apple has been a part of it since beginning but as it was voluntary we've all seen what happened.
  
  I mean, my comment is something to consider, but it's definitely not why Apple doesn't want it lol
- it’s going to suck when the next, better standard comes along and the are all these laws preventing phones from adopting it
  this argument keeps being trotted out.
  Standards can change.
  The USB-C protocol allows for future improvements. The spec allows for charging at capacities far higher than exist today, and the connection type so far supports USB3.0, 3.1, 3.2, USB4 and even the unfortunately-named USB4v2.0. The USB-C connection type will still be around for USB5.3v2max SuperSpeed or whatever it's called in 2030.
  
  Governments move really, really slow. How long has USB-C been out? Many years it seems and now it’s being mandated? In my view USB-C is old tech. I like it, don’t get me wrong, but it’s old old.
  If you go to any government organization except maybe parts of the military, you’ll find that their tech is outdated and running legacy shit because they have to go through piles of paperwork to change anything.
  
  In my view USB-C is old tech. I like it, don’t get me wrong, but it’s old old.
  As long as it works for the next few decades, this isn't anything to worry about.

31 comments