In a setback for Apple, the European Union seeks a common charger for all phones

The European Union unveiled plans on Thursday to make USB-C connectors the standard charging port for all smartphones, tablets and other electronic devices sold across the bloc, an initiative that it says will reduce environmental waste but that is likely to hit Apple the hardest.

The move would represent a long-awaited yet aggressive step into product-making decisions by the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm. Apple, whose iPhones are equipped with a different port, has long opposed the plan, arguing that it would stifle innovation and lead to more electronic waste as all current chargers that are not USB-C would become obsolete.

So Apple is worried about waste?

Anyone who has a drawer full of wires for old iPods, iPads, Macintoshes, etc. knows how ludicrous and hypocritical this is.

Macintosh owners know far too well the waste of a perfectly good charger when the built-in cable frays:

One more thing

IMNSHO, Apple’s iMac is responsible for far more waste than just cables.

Go to your local Craig’s list and search for iMac computers. You’ll find lots of them, many with beautiful, still functional screens and the old, underpowered processors that are no longer have enough memory or storage for today’s needs. (Many never did have enough power).

The idea of tossing out such beautiful displays drives me crazy. You can’t even use them as a display for another computer.

I have a beautiful BenQ monitor which reproduces 99% of the Adobe RGB color space. No need to replace this for a long time. But as you can see, I have replaced the old Mac Mini that used to power it:

I was pretty sure that USB-C cables could be upgraded to do whatever Apple wanted to do, so I asked Reddit: