[jld89]

A LOT of less waste maybe ?

It is very inconvenient and a hassle to have 5 different cables for 5 different devices. It is a waste of space, materials... The economic gains by volume continent wide should not be underestimated.

[_trackno5]

Do you actually have data on that though? I see that kind of argument get thrown around but it is never substantiated.

How will usbc lead to less waste?

If you wanna make that argument, wouldn’t it be better to force companies to opt you out of getting chargers and cables unless you explicitly ask for them when you make the purchase?

[flavius29663]

> If you wanna make that argument, wouldn’t it be better to force companies to opt you out of getting chargers and cables unless you explicitly ask for them when you make the purchase?

That is a natural step forward after the cables are unified. Even today, 80% of the electronic devices I'm buying are coming without a charger and this is all due to the fact that the market stabilized to USB charging (mini and now USB-C).

I still remember we used to have drawers full of old phone chargers...

[the_gipsy]

They already do that in Europe, IIRC my iPhone came with just a lightning to USB-C cable and no charger.

[ThatPlayer]

Yes, that was part of the proposal: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_21_...

> Unbundling the sale of a charger from the sale of the electronic device

But without a universal charger that doesn't make sense: if I still need a specific charger for a device, I'm going to have to buy that with the device anyways.

[piperswe]

Apple already does that with chargers, new iPhones no longer come with charging bricks, just the cables. I'd be fine with not including the cables if the phones were USB-C, but since they're Lightning the likelihood of a new iPhone user already having a cable that will work is very low.

[permo-w]

less cables needed = less waste

[CubsFan1060]

I will basically immediately throw away about a dozen cables and need to buy new ones. I'm unclear on how I'm gaining in this.

[hotpotamus]

You've somehow avoided USB-C cables? That's confusing to me since I have an iPhone and other Apple devices. My phone uses lighting but my Beats earbuds, My Macbook Pro, and my iPad pro use USB-C for charging. Plus plenty of other non-Apple devices.

[logicalmonster]

This law might have actually encouraged more waste than would have otherwise existed.

Cables (generally) don't go bad in a year or two and can last for quite a few years. Most long-term iPhone users probably have at least a few spare cables throughout their desk, house, car that they've bought over time that they'd now have no substitutes for and would need to replace.

You might have dictated a situation where people now have to throw away a pile of perfectly usable cables/accessories and buy a bunch of new ones. While well intentioned, this law might have otherwise achieved the opposite of what it set out to do.

PS: Whether this law exists or not, I'd have bet on Apple working to go fully wireless soon and this might just accelerate that effort.

[schmuelio]

> You might have dictated a situation where people now have to throw away a pile of perfectly usable cables/accessories and buy a bunch of new ones.

I mean, or Apple could do the one thing they've done absolutely tons of recently (so it wouldn't be a surprising or unheard of move from them) and sell a dongle for lightning -> USB-C?

Now you don't have to do any of what you just said would be a guarantee.

[kypro]

Less waste after iPhone users all have to throw away their cables and buy new ones, presumably?

[ceejayoz]

It's OK to make decisions with long-term beneficial impacts that may come with short-term negatives. I'd also wager the majority of iPhone users have USB-C cables already.

[danmaz74]

Straw-man argument, as the law won't require retroactively changing the port on existing iPhones.

[b3orn]

They'd have to throw away their phones first for the cables to become useless, I'd say the phones are the larger e-waste problem.

[bluGill]

There is more waste this year, but in 10 years there is less waste.

[IsNotNull]

Not if you already have an Apple iPad or an Apple MacBook that's already USB-C.

[rrwo]

It's not going to affect existing phones.

[norman784]

The plug will be universal with usb-c, but not the cable specs, I read someone of someone that have a usb-c-jack dongle that came with the phone and worked, then when it broke he bought a new one but it didn't work, the dongle itself was not using a standard, also I read a lot that fast charging is kinda property with each manufacturer, so a cable that can fast charge one device might not be able to fast charge another, and the blame is on USB itself, it's like HDMI, everything is optional, so you can't be sure if you bought the correct usb-c cable.

At least with lightning you know what you are buying, and maybe the overpriced cables that Apple sells will work better than the most cheap ones, which brand give you the warranties for the cable specs? does belkin and co sell also cables?