News Apple joins micro-USB charger agreement

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/bits/2009/06/30/apple-joins-micro-usb-charger-agreement/1

Apple has finally agreed to join an EC project which aims to equip all mobile handsets sold in Europe with a universal micro-USB charging port by 2012.

 

and that doesn't look like it's gonna change - Apple are going to keep the dock connecter and instead offer a dongle to allow the mini-usb charger to work.

Linky

 

Doesn't requiring an adapter largely defeat the entire point of the universal charger idea? Surely as much as allowing you to charge your new phone with your old charger the point is you can use anyone else's charger when you're without one? Without the precious adapter a universal charger is just as useless as trying to use another brand's incompatible charger.

 

Even with an adaptor this is a good idea, gone will be the days of every device coming with anothe brick that goes into the pile. How many of us have a box full of USB leads we haven't even opened? Or old power bricks from long dead hardware?

But....

It's even better for the manufacturers as they will no longer need to ship their products with a mains adapter at all, and that means they don't have to box up different versions for different markets.

I just wish they had used the mini-usb format which is already really common!

 

It's a good thing, but Apple will need to either add a USB port in addition to the dock connector or have a dongle as you say. It'd pee too many people off with dock connector accessories otherwise.

OTOH, my 6220 classic has a 'standard' Nokia charge socket, and a micro USB...but the micro USB doesn't charge the phone! How's that for naff?

 

It's a great idea for all the reasons suggested above, but also because once pretty much all phones are using this system. Other devices will all start being manufactured to use the same chargers as well, simply because there will be a demand for it, as well as getting rid of the need to manufacture and package a power supply with the product. I for one would certainly liked to be able to go away for a week and only have to pack one charger for all my devices and not 5 (which is the current total)

 

By 2012 I would have thought wireless induction charging would be on the rise in which case all of this is useless as induction charging should be universal, not just across phones, but most battery powered consumer devices. Electric toothbrushes have been using it for long enough so I don't see why it's taking this long to get into the rest of the consumer electronics world.

 

Not really, it will make it easier, instead of having separate power and data ports on a phone you can just use the 1 micro-USB port.

I can't see this as anything but a good thing and I've got not idea why it took them so long.

 

Currently I have a reasonable system of carrying one charger (for my phone) which has a USB port that will charge my MP3 player too. They use different connectors but both work fine it also has the added convenience that I can use USB extension cables to create a massive wire from plug to bed

The only worry I have is that the charger can supply 1.5A which is three times what USB is meant for, and if my MP3 player takes all that can be given its battery won't last very long.

 

what's the fuss about?

every phone charger should be compatible with 5v USB from the start.

Apple iPhones and iPods all can be charged through the USB port or though their AC-to-USB adaptor (1A should be good enough). so in the end, all you need to carry is a AC-to-USB adaptor and a couple cables for each phone.

Apple just have the special dock connector, which is already very widely avaliable due to the popular iPod. it's actually much easier to find a way to charge your iPhone than any other phones: ask anyone whether they've got a ipod charger.


also, each device should have over-current protection from the start. so a 1.5 or 2A charger can be made unversal. i know that the iPhone has this as i've used 2A charger with it before and charged at the same rate as the Apple official 1A charger.

in the end, IMHO it's Apple that's best prepared.

 

my major bugbear is that a lot of USB chargable devices need a driver on the host in order to charge. eg I should be able to plug the USB cable into the powered hub on my monitor and have the device charge without the PC being switched on.

 

apple are *******s. they deliberately held out until we bought a 3gs before agreeing to this so that we're all forced to use their old cables for another generation! grr!

 

We'll still be using their old cable - they're not dropping the dock connector, they're adding a mini-usb - > Apple Dock adapter so that you can use a mini-usb cable instead (as long as you've got the adapter).

To be fair the ipod/iphone charges over USB anyway and you don't get a wall wart with the device anyway (although there was a handy USB -> 3 pin socket adapter with the 3GS)