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Charging cable with USB-C plug
Photo: Jens Büttner / dpa
On Thursday, the Bundestag passed a law to standardize charging cables.
By the end of the year, USB-C is expected to become the standard in Germany for charging mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, game consoles, digital cameras, headphones, e-readers and navigation devices.
From 2026, the regulation will also apply to notebooks.
The Bundestag is thus implementing a directive from the European Union.
The EU Parliament passed a corresponding law in October 2022.
For years, tech companies had already been pushing for an end to the cable mess.
Because the US company described a requirement for uniform charging sockets as inhibiting innovation and had long equipped its iPhones and iPads with the company's own Lightning connector, the law was sometimes referred to as the anti-Apple law.
The company now only equips new products with connections in USB-C format and only offers a few older products with Lightning sockets.
The technical standardization is intended to relieve people's financial burden and at the same time avoid unnecessary electronic waste.
“It makes everyday life easier for consumers, and it is also good for the environment,” said the chairwoman of the parliamentary digital committee, Tabea Rößner (Greens).
According to previous information from the EU Commission, the new regulation could save around 11,000 tonnes of electronic waste annually.
»Moved from the plug to the software«
The law was passed by the Bundestag without any dissenting votes.
The CDU, CSU and AfD also voted for the new regulation - only the left abstained.
Your MP Ralph Lenkert complained about a “back door” in the law, which requires manufacturers to use uniform charging cables, but allows variations in charging power and charging software.
"So the competition has only been shifted from the connector to the software - and that's not enough." (Read more about the differences in USB-C cables here).
hpp/dpa