EU rules on common chargers apply to laptops from today. It means that all new laptops sold in the European Union must now support USB-C charging.
In December 2024, the rules came into force for mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, headphones, videogame consoles, and portable speakers.
Laptop manufacturers were given a longer lead in time to allow for redesign and transition to the common charging system.
So the shape of the plug is the same for all devices regardless of the spec… doesn’t it just make things more confusing for non techies? I can already see people saying their new laptop is broken because their 5v 0.67A power brick won’t charge it, or buying a USB-c charger just to find out it doesn’t work. A lot of aftermarket chargers claim to support up to 120W etc. Except they mean 120W is a sum of all ports for a 5 port charger so really it’s only 20W. For techies it can get annoying too if you like to play with hardware. You can just feed appropriate voltage DC over those barrel connectors, for example from a car battery with a buck converter or AA/18650 in series and it will work while usb-c charging needs to be negotiated.
Nope.
That is called deceptive marketing.
There 100% has to be regulation on chargers and ports, maybe a colour system like how usb3 ideally is blue.
I guess all those tech enthusiasts will have to buy a cheap bms board that can control those batteries and negotiate the charging. Their brave seven bucks sacrifice in that regard will have to suffice.
If you plug in a weak charger or an inadequate cable you will get a message on the screen saying as much. Also, the new law doesn’t prevent manufacturers shipping proprietary chargers alongside USB-C.