Back in October, the EU parliament finally passed the USB-C mandate bill, and it was published in the Official Journal of the European Union afterward. Each union member has 24 months to comply with the legislation and adopt the bill as national law. Various sources already predicted that the USB-C mandate bill could go live in 2024. In the October announcement, the EU lawmakers also said the bill would take effect by the end of 2024.
EU will launch USB-C mandate plan in 2024
For those who are not familiar with the bill, it means all devices sold across the European Union should have no charging port other than USB-C. It includes smartphones, tablets, digital cameras, headphones, and handheld video game consoles. Of course, laptops will also be included by April 2026. The bill only covers devices with wired charging, and those who only support wireless charging are excluded. Of course, Android smartphone manufacturers will find it much easier to comply with the new law as many Android phones have already adopted USB-C. Apple, the greatest non-Android manufacturer, also confirmed it would replace the Lightning port with USB-C in its devices. Famous analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that next year Apple devices could adopt USB-C. Bloomberg also confirmed Apple has started testing USB-C as a Lightning port replacement, and the switch might happen in 2023. The EU claims the bill’s goal is to reduce e-waste and not force customers to spend more money on buying additional accessories. While this claim could be valid, some companies argue that a common charging port for all devices can reduce competition. We should probably wait until 2028 to see the bill’s effect on reducing e-waste, innovation, and competition.
