4 ms·

> What problem is the EU solving here? Everything works together, except Apple stuff.

mikkergp 4y ago
What does work together mean in this case, it’s not like we’re talking Ethernet where these devices are communicating to each other. Like I can’t use an android charger? Lightning to usb-c cables are pretty much standard. It seems like in the short term anyways this increases e-waste as all my old Lightning chargers become deprecated.
- cowtools 4y ago
  I can just plug a usb-c dock and use my android phone with a keyboard and mouse if I wanted to. I could plug two android phones together with usb-c and transfer files from one to another. Apple's phones are quite locked down, and I think a big reason why is that proprietary lightning connector. When you have a usb port for charging, there is no excuse for not implementing the full standard software-side.
  - pwinnski 4y ago
    There is zero chance that an iPhone with a USB-C port is going to allow phone-to-phone file transfer. You have the cause and effect reversed.
- dingleberry420 4y ago
  The other day a coworker's iphone battery was nearly empty. He did not have his charger with me. I offered that he could use mine, an usbc charger that has worked for my past 3 phones and also works with my laptop. He couldn't use it. Of course, not being an iphone user, I did not have an adapter. Neither did he, considering he forgot his charger. The iphone and the usbc charger did not work together.
  - pwinnski 4y ago
    This story would make more sense if you mentioned that he did not have a lightning cable with him. My iPhone X is currently plugged into a USB-C charger, no problem, but it's using a USB-C -> Lightning cable. It's the cable that's the issue.
scarface74 4y ago
Are they also going to insist that Android manufactures support their phones for more than six months with operating system updates? Worrying about cables causing e-waste is instead of phones, is even more evidence of the technical ineptness of legislators.
- layer8 4y ago
  > Are they also going to insist that Android manufactures support their phones for more than six months with operating system updates? Yes they are, with a directive from 2019. See for example https://grunecker.de/en/blog/sales-of-goods-directive-and-digital-content-directive-the-new-level-of-consumer-protection-in-the-european-digital-single-market/ https://grunecker.de/en/blog/sales-of-goods-directive-and-di..., search for “Update Obligations”.
  - scarface74 4y ago
    I don’t speak German. But the best summary I found doesn’t say that manufacturers have to support cell phones for 7 years with operating system or security updates like Apple has been doing.
    - layer8 4y ago
      I changed the link, it displayed in English for me. The relevant quote is: “objective requirements […] are met only if the consumer is […] provided with updates for the usual period of the product's use and service life. The update obligation may regularly exceed the applicable warranty period.” The courts will have to decide what “the usual period of the product's use and service life” means exactly, but certainly longer than the six months you originally mentioned.
      - scarface74 4y ago
        So it’s a law with no teeth and vague generalities. How many technical documents have that amount of vagueness? For reference, the iPhone 6S released in 2015 will lose operating system updates this year. The 2013 iPhone 5s got a security update this year. What are the chances that any Android manufactures will support their phones that long?

What does work together mean in this case, it’s not like we’re talking Ethernet where these devices are communicating to each other. Like I can’t use an android charger? Lightning to usb-c cables are pretty much standard. It seems like in the short term anyways this increases e-waste as all my old Lightning chargers become deprecated.

cowtools 4y ago
I can just plug a usb-c dock and use my android phone with a keyboard and mouse if I wanted to. I could plug two android phones together with usb-c and transfer files from one to another. Apple's phones are quite locked down, and I think a big reason why is that proprietary lightning connector. When you have a usb port for charging, there is no excuse for not implementing the full standard software-side.
- pwinnski 4y ago
  There is zero chance that an iPhone with a USB-C port is going to allow phone-to-phone file transfer. You have the cause and effect reversed.
dingleberry420 4y ago
The other day a coworker's iphone battery was nearly empty. He did not have his charger with me. I offered that he could use mine, an usbc charger that has worked for my past 3 phones and also works with my laptop. He couldn't use it. Of course, not being an iphone user, I did not have an adapter. Neither did he, considering he forgot his charger. The iphone and the usbc charger did not work together.
- pwinnski 4y ago
  This story would make more sense if you mentioned that he did not have a lightning cable with him. My iPhone X is currently plugged into a USB-C charger, no problem, but it's using a USB-C -> Lightning cable. It's the cable that's the issue.

scarface74 4y ago

Are they also going to insist that Android manufactures support their phones for more than six months with operating system updates? Worrying about cables causing e-waste is instead of phones, is even more evidence of the technical ineptness of legislators.

layer8 4y ago
> Are they also going to insist that Android manufactures support their phones for more than six months with operating system updates? Yes they are, with a directive from 2019. See for example https://grunecker.de/en/blog/sales-of-goods-directive-and-digital-content-directive-the-new-level-of-consumer-protection-in-the-european-digital-single-market/ https://grunecker.de/en/blog/sales-of-goods-directive-and-di..., search for “Update Obligations”.
- scarface74 4y ago
  I don’t speak German. But the best summary I found doesn’t say that manufacturers have to support cell phones for 7 years with operating system or security updates like Apple has been doing.
  - layer8 4y ago
    I changed the link, it displayed in English for me. The relevant quote is: “objective requirements […] are met only if the consumer is […] provided with updates for the usual period of the product's use and service life. The update obligation may regularly exceed the applicable warranty period.” The courts will have to decide what “the usual period of the product's use and service life” means exactly, but certainly longer than the six months you originally mentioned.
    - scarface74 4y ago
      So it’s a law with no teeth and vague generalities. How many technical documents have that amount of vagueness? For reference, the iPhone 6S released in 2015 will lose operating system updates this year. The 2013 iPhone 5s got a security update this year. What are the chances that any Android manufactures will support their phones that long?