All Hail USB-C! EU Votes for a Standard Cable, Sorry Apple :/

It’s official, USB-C is now the European standard for communication and charging, so Apple will now have to go cry in a corner and develop coping strategies. Why has the EU introduced this legislation, will this hurt innovation, and why has USB-C become the standard?

Why has the EU introduced new legislation on charging cables?

In what has been anticipated over the past few years, the EU has finally introduced laws that require all portable consumer electronic devices (such as phones, tablets, and cameras) to use USB-C cables. To ensure that all manufacturers have ample time to react to the change, the law won’t take effect until 2024. Considering that switching to USB-C is trivial, this 2024 release could be argued as being too generous for companies that go out of their way to avoid the use of standardised charging cables. 

The driving forces behind this new legislation primarily come from two objectives; to reduce the environmental impact of e-waste and reduce the amount of money spent by consumers. For anyone who remembers consumer electronics before 2010, most homes had a draw full of 20+ cables for numerous devices across different manufacturers. Power kits were commonly available with adjustable voltage outputs and many different DC barrel jack attachments to try and help consumers, but there was always that one manufacturer who just had to be different. 

The introduction of USB as a standard (such as USB-B for printers and micro-USB for android smartphones) demonstrated the benefits of charging cable standardisation with improved convenience and customers not being tied to IP. On the flip side, Apple has been notoriously famous for protecting its cable designs while constantly changing charging ports so that customers would be forced to get new cables for new devices. Older cables would often end up in the bin, and this e-waste can lead to environmental pollution as well as generate piles of waste that need to be disposed of.

Fast forward to 2022, and the EU introducing this legislation will aim to reduce this mounting e-waste issue while simultaneously allowing customers to keep older cables. At the same time, customers will be less likely to throw away USB-C cables as they know they can be used for numerous devices, and having spare cables in a draw is extraordinarily useful.

Will this hurt innovation?

Now, the introduction of this standardisation has undoubtedly upset some manufacturers (primarily Apple), who claim that this law will stifle innovation. A company that is free to design its own cable and communication protocols can push the limits of data transfer, discover new connection methods, and solve challenges currently faced by cable technologies. But, by outlawing this ability to develop new cables and integrate them into products, advances in cable technologies will slow down to a grind as organisations such as the IEEE will see years of internal argument amongst engineers to develop the next standardised cable.

Now, this is what some companies would like the public to think; in all fairness, there is a certain element of truth. Organisations such as the IEEE do indeed see levels of bureaucracy that prevent new technologies from being released in a timely manner, and the inability to capitalise on new cable designs does prevent companies from conducting product research. But when looking at the evidence produced by the market, it is clear that custom cables are not the solution needed. With everything turning to USB for data transfer and power charging combined with the success that other mobile phone operators have had with USB charging cables, there are few cables (if any) that have shown better performance over a modern UBS-C using USB 3.1.

Finally, considering that almost all forms of communication over cables are now serialised data (parallel data is slow and bulky), USB cables are surprisingly future-proof, and the only real improvements left in such cables is the use of careful cable construction to allow for even higher speeds (such as true differential cables).

Why Choose USB-C?

When looking at all available cable options, USB-C arguably makes the most sense for numerous reasons.

The first is that USB-C is a mechanically robust cable that suffers little wear and tear when used repeatedly (whereas other cables, such as micro-USB, degrade awfully with use). In contrast, older USB cable connectors had a life expectancy of around 1,500 to 5,000 mating cycles, but USB-C supports a minimum of 10,000 cycles. Considering that modern devices are moving towards wireless charging and network file sharing, it is possible to see a USB-C device operate for well over a decade. 

The second obvious reason for using USB-C is that it is a non-polarised cable allowing for insertion in both orientations. This is a unique feature of USB-C across all other USB cables and is convenient for users while also providing secure, reliable electrical connections between the cable and the target device. Furthermore, USB-C has numerous additional contacts and communication lines, allowing it to be expanded in the future while supporting additional features. 

The third reason for using USB-C is that it supports high bandwidth data transfer as well as numerous modern features such as external displays and real-time devices. As such, it can be used for more than just charging and regular connections, meaning that one cable really can rule them all.

Overall, USB-C presents engineers with exciting opportunities, and it is fair to say that of all connectors ever designed, USB-C is one of the best. If companies such as Apple find it difficult to cope with this concept, then tough because the public no longer wants device-specific cables that restrict users on what they can do. And finally, let’s not forget that Apple already uses USB-C in their MacBook and iPad products, so it’s not like USB-C is alien to them.