[misnome]

> The EU effort to standardize phone connectors led to nearly every phone manufacturer adopt micro usb and then usb c.

So, in other words, the EU forced one standard, which it is now abandoning (generating piles of micro-usb e-waste), and is now doing it again. And this is Apples' fault for not moving to USB-C in... 2012.

Didn't Apple use USB-A wall chargers with the 30-pin for phones at a time when everyone else was on proprietary power bricks?

[orra]

> So, in other words, the EU forced one standard, which it is now abandoning (generating piles of micro-usb e-waste),

This is hyperbole. Especially because a common retort on these articles is “surely this standardisation kills innovation”.

A standard was adopted, preventing lots of e-waste. However, the old standard is now past its useful life, so a revised standard is being universally adopted.

This is the best of both worlds: a standard reduces the amount of duplicate adapters manufactured. However, it doesn't hold back progress and innovation when needs genuinely change.

[blokey]

That makes no sense.

If USB-C is mandated, there will never be a newer standard to replace it, because no company will invest any time or money into developing it as it would not be legal to ship it until it’s blessed by the government and it won’t be blessed until it’s got a critical mass which it can never have!

If the rest of the world mandated the Micro-USB standard at the same time as the EU previously, we would never even have USB-C! No one would have bothered to invent it.

[ThatPlayer]

>If USB-C is mandated,

USB-C doesn't have to stay mandated. Once every single device and charger is using USB-C, they can let the law expire and the market will keep it a de-facto standard because no one is going to buy a phone that doesn't have USB-C unless it has a lot of advantages. Notice how micro-USB is no longer mandated in the EU?

Also USB-C isn't mandated the only port on the device. Add multiple charging ports. Plenty of laptops do that, even a few phones. It'll make the transition easier for people too because they can continue to use their USB-C chargers if they decide the new technology isn't a necessity. Just like how plenty of commenter here want to keep using Lightning cables.

[josefx]

> If USB-C is mandated, there will never be a newer standard to replace it,

The law has a reevaluation period of five years. Basically lawmakers and industry representatives will convene every five years to see if a new connector should be mandated. We already know that this works, because the entire industry excluding Apple had been doing it from the day the EU first told everyone to clean up their mess "or else".

[dzhiurgis]

EU forces a standard that companies need to agree upon, not a particular standard they think fits the most.

[chmod775]

Even if that becomes an issue, it can be trivially fixed with grant money.

[Moldoteck]

Microusb wasn't forced. Usbc is. Also, if apple wants, they can include both usbc and lightning for eu market