EU Sets Deadline For New Gadgets To Use USB Type-C For Wired Charging

The European Union (EU) has made a formal decision about the time frame in which new iPhones, along with other phones, tablets, earphones, as well as other small electronics, should transition to the USB Type-C cable charging standard. Because the new legislation was released online in the Official Journal of the EU, which makes it technically binding, this should take place by the 28th of December 2024 at the latest. The new regulations will now officially begin to take effect in twenty days, and each individual EU member state will have up to twenty-four months to adopt them as part of their own national law.

This date is more or less in accordance with earlier estimates made by politicians, although it has remained unpredictable up to this point because of the number of steps through which every act of EU regulation must pass. When legislators came to an initial consensus in June, they stated that the legislation would become effective in the fall of 2024; however, a press statement issued in October stated that the restrictions would remain in effect until the end of 2024.

It is therefore necessary to harmonise the charging interfaces and charging communication protocols for specific categories or classes of radio equipment that are recharged by means of wired charging.

The regulation will apply to a broader range of electronic devices than only smartphones, encompassing tablets, cameras, earphones, and portable game consoles, among others. Laptops will eventually be added to the list of products that are required to come equipped with USB Type-C charging, but this requirement will not take effect until April 2026. Devices that can only be charged wirelessly are exempt from having to utilize USB Type-C because the rules only apply to those that support wired charging.