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Comment by slavoingilizov | Hacker News Reader

Well... I agree with the spirit of the effort, but not the letter of it.

>>> From spring 2026, the obligation will extend to laptops

So this would force Apple to replace MagSafe with USB-C? How is that not killing innovation?

Standardisation should be a goal, but I just feel this particular effort is too specific and brings very little value to consumers. Why don't we standardise payment protocols instead? Or biometric identity verification? Or ID cards even (that the UK is allergic to)? I just feel the spirit of these efforts can be applied so much more successfully elsewhere.

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> So this would force Apple to replace MagSafe with USB-C? How is that not killing innovation?

Depends how the law is written.

"Must have at least one USB C port for charging"? Then current laptops with magsafe are already compliant.

"Must only have …"? Then I would agree it goes too far.

> Why don't we standardise payment protocols instead?

Like SEPA and PSD2?

> Or biometric identity verification?

Such as AFIS or maybe EU 2019/1157?

> Or ID cards even (that the UK is allergic to)?

EU 2019/1157 again?

It's not like EU standardisation of chargers is an outlier.

How would it force apple to replace magsafe? All modern apple laptops can already charge from USB-C. Magsafe is just another option.

My MacBook can charge with USB-C and MagSafe. If iphones had both a USB-C and a lightning connectors, this law would probably not have been pushed through.

All taht is already standardized btw. The countries do have some leeway in their implementation though, that's whay the EU driving license was quite quickly adopted in some countries, and very slowly in others (mine...).

My MacBook currently has 4 USB-C ports that I can pick to charge from.

My last Macbook had 5? different ports on it, two of which were older USB standards.

Nothing stops apple from ALSO having a proprietary connector, as long as USB-C is still an option to charge.

> Why don't we standardise payment protocols instead? Or biometric identity verification? Or ID cards even (that the UK is allergic to)?

None of these result in hundreds of thousands of tons of plastic and copper or other metals being put in a landfill or dumped in the sea because they were only useful for 3-5 models of a single businesses devices.

Apple is still free to make this e-waste, but now their devices must support charging on USB-C, which they are free to NOT make their own chargers for, as long as it's standard-compliant and supported

Macbooks support magsafe and USBc charging, i imagine thats sufficient to meet the requirement

Surely apple will still have usb-c on its laptop. And you would be able to charge through either magsafe or usb-c.

Just as you can with MS Surface.

And just as you can with the current MacBook lineup.

Is Apple currently using MagSafe? Both of the recent MacBooks in my household, from 2020 and 2021, have standard USB-C connections.

Yes, they brought it back. You can still charge via USB-C, though.

It’s also worth noting that the MagSafe cable has USB-C on the other end, so it fits fairly nicely into a world where all your adaptors are USB-C. The old MagSafe cables were permanently attached to the adaptor.

> How is that not killing innovation?

It's not such a great innovation if it makes users life harder.

Because law makers actively experience the pain of having different chargers in their day to day lives.

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