Saudi Arabia passes law requiring USB-C charges for smartphones::From 2025, Apple’s iPhone and all Android smartphones sold in Saudi Arabia will have to have a USB-C charging port, with laptops to follow in 2026.
Holy shit… This is the first time I’ve agreed with anything from Saudi Arabia. Who knew basic rights suppressors would be pro consumer lmao.
They are not pro-consumer. They are doing this because EU has done it. On the face of things they look progressive and what not, in reality EU really dictates sane laws.
They are not pro-consumer. They are doing this because EU has done it.
Doing it when another country has already done it is still more pro-consumer than not doing it at all.
I disagree, because change is going to happen regardless what they decided. Had they been first, then we can say they did it to help consumers. This is more PR than anything else. EU is sufficiently big market so they can throw their weight around and force manufacturers to behave. Not sure Saudi Arabia has enough buying power to do that.
And if you don’t use USB-C they’ll behead you.
OK. Now copy all other EU laws.
While I agree with the point of these laws, to get everyone on a standard, it’s going to suck when the next, better standard comes along and the are all these laws preventing phones from adopting it
The EU has appointed a committee to reconsider the standards every couple of years and the law allows changing the standard if they decide to. I’m not sure how Saoudi Arabia will deal with this.
EU attempted to get smartphone manufacturers to agree on a standard so that law wouldn’t be necessary to avoid this scenario. Guess which company didn’t want to play with the others?
Guess which company is now forced to do it in second revision of the same law or is going to get forbidden from selling their devices in EU. Being an asshole strongarming your way around works for certain countries on this planet that have legalized bribing and call it lobbying. EU doesn’t give a shit.
And they didn’t want to do it likely because of the previous comment - what don’t you understand?
The original proposal was that companies agree by themselves a common standard to use so that legislation wouldn’t be needed. They had their chance to go on without legally forced change but they didn’t want to.
Additionally EU has given Apple multiple warnings about not to hinder USB-C functionality like fast charging so that it would only work with their own chargers and cables.
it’s going to suck when the next, better standard comes along and the are all these laws preventing phones from adopting it
this argument keeps being trotted out.
-
Standards can change.
-
The USB-C protocol allows for future improvements. The spec allows for charging at capacities far higher than exist today, and the connection type so far supports USB3.0, 3.1, 3.2, USB4 and even the unfortunately-named USB4v2.0. The USB-C connection type will still be around for USB5.3v2max SuperSpeed or whatever it’s called in 2030.
Governments move really, really slow. How long has USB-C been out? Many years it seems and now it’s being mandated? In my view USB-C is old tech. I like it, don’t get me wrong, but it’s old old.
If you go to any government organization except maybe parts of the military, you’ll find that their tech is outdated and running legacy shit because they have to go through piles of paperwork to change anything.
A step in the right direction, good job
