[GuB-42]

Maybe it is, but we are talking about the Fairphone. A phone that the company pitches as more eco-friendly than the competition. Lacking a feature that is known to be wasteful in terms of energy is fitting.

Maybe it is negligible, but I suspect that in the grand scheme of things, the whole "fair trade" thing is negligible too, it didn't stop the company from building on that. At least, it sends a good message.

[audunw]

Given the cost of the “wasted” electricity I think it’s reasonable to say that charging with wires could easily be more wasteful. All it takes is just that wireless charging saves ONE broken/worn-out component, and it’ll easily have saved the world an equivalent amount of resources. If it’s a screen (like cause someone accidentally pulls on the charging cable dropping the phone to the floor), it could equate to several phones over several years. Maybe you are careful, but others aren’t.

One giant caveat though: wireless charging could wear out the battery faster due to the heat generated. But fast charging over cable is also bad for the battery, and that’s becoming increasingly common. At least wireless is always slow charging

[hsbauauvhabzb]

What’s the environmental cost of USB charging assuming wear on the cable? I seem to naturally go through one per year, I have a friend whose pets love to destroy cables so I assume they go through more.

Electricity can be solar, meaning that it could be close enough to zero environmental impact - think 20 years from now when we’ve got our crap together when it comes to sustainable energy..

Edit: a point below comments on increased battery wear which I fully agree with.

[richwater]

How terrible are people treating their cables? That number is insane to me.

[hsbauauvhabzb]

Travel, among other things.

Wear on the phone side of the port should be considered too.

[GuB-42]

But usually, people don't travel with their wireless chargers, or if they do, their wireless charger wire will get the same bad treatment as their phone charging cable.

As for wear on the phone side, the good thing of having a Fairphone is that it is easily replaceable. But USB-C ports are also designed to be more robust than the cable. So unless there is a defect, it should last the life of the phone.

[cuu508]

Sadly in practice the USB-C port still is one of the weakest parts of the phone. When it becomes too loose / mushy / unreliable, and cleaning it does not help, and replacing it is not economical, then that's it for the phone.

[gpvos]

I've replaced the USB port (i.e., bottom module) in two of my (Fair)phones, both times because of wear or damage of the port.

[globular-toast]

I travel with cables every day. The only cables I've ever broken were due to some accident like tripping over it or something. I'm talking like 1 or 2 in my entire life. I have never considered cables to be a consumable part.

How on earth does someone get through one a year? Are you using it as a rope? Copper isn't cheap but should last decades, not one lousy year.

[hsbauauvhabzb]

Cheap eBay cables seem to be extremely fragile inside, plastic splits often too. Weather conditions, general treatment and lifestyle will all have an impact.

[mcv]

I'm taking extra good care of the USB-C cable that came with my phone, because I know that USB-C standard is a mess and I don't trust the standard to be able to find a replacement that allows the extra fast charging. I've had it for 4.5 years now.

Apple cables are notoriously fragile, though.