Anton Wahlman

The EU Stabs Apple in the Back

I think you're misunderstanding the technology here. This new initiative specifies that the handset itself must be able to use the same charger as any other Motorola, Samsung, SonyEricsson, RIM, HTC, LG, Palm etc. device. So it has to use the same connector. No special adapter, as any such would defeat the purpose of the "One charger for every phone" principle. Why should the EU allow Apple to avoid making the same kind of full transition to MicroUSB that all the other handset makers were forced to make? Remember, I think Apple should be free to do whatever it wants -- I'm just pointing out what the EU could do regardless of my opinion about the sanctity of private property and freedom of contract.


On Jul 01 08:20 PM peter02l wrote:

> "The EU is now mandating that all cell phones be compatible with
> 3rd-party MicroUSB chargers by January 1, 2012."
>
> This will not affect Apple much. Apples current charger has a USB
> connector to which the cable connect. That is the cable is not part
> of the connector. So all they have to do is to replace the USB connector
> on the charger with MicroUSB, and supply the appropriate cable.
>
>
> This has nothing to do with the 30-pin connector. EU's concern is
> that people over the years end up with a multitude of chargers for
> various devices which they don't know what to do with. That is very
> wasteful, so I applaud what EU is trying to do here.