This mandate was passed in the EU Parliament with 602 votes in favour, 13 against, and eight abstentions. Now, it will be sent to the EU Council for formal approval, after which it will be published in the EU's Official Journal. Once that is done, all phones, tablets, cameras, headphones, earbuds, speakers, handheld consoles, keyboards, mice, and even navigation systems sold in the EU will need to feature a USB-C port by default.
Under the new rule, all companies selling electronics products in the EU will have until 2024 to make said change and release updated versions of their products, which will feature dedicated labels stating the new charging capabilities. In addition to featuring USB-C based wired charging, they will also have to support power delivery of up to 100W so that all fast charging devices use the same charging speed.
This will go a long way in reducing the discrepancies between products sold by different companies, which now cannot use charging speed as a USP for their devices. By doing this, the EU hopes to cut down the sale of excess chargers, as users can now simply use the same charger to power all sorts of devices at the same speed.
Similar protocols will also have to be implemented in the laptop category by 2026. While now included in this particular mandate, the EU is also mulling bringing similar laws for the wireless charging category as well, as it becomes more popular amongst smartphone and earbuds users. Let us see how long it takes Apple to finally adapt to these new laws, considering it is the only mainstream brand that has been resisting the change.
