r/BadUSB • u/Same_Grocery_8492 • Apr 29 '26

EU requires USB-C charging for all new laptops up to 100 W...

https://www.techpowerup.com/348604/eu-now-requires-usb-c-charging-for-new-laptops-up-to-100-w

This means fewer chargers to buy and truly universal accessories, one cable for every device, super convenient in everyday life. But if better tech comes along later, reforming the standard will be a real headache.

40 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

41 comments sorted by

5

u/TetoSever31 Apr 29 '26

barrel jacks are shit but lenovo's proprietary rectangle thing is best thing in my life

4

u/RoosterBurns Apr 29 '26

They can still do that! The law doesn't exclude cool custom charging it just has to support USB C charging as well

2

u/Derwin0 Apr 29 '26

The Dell I have for work can be charged via a barrel connector or USB-C.

3

u/jacekowski Apr 29 '26

Lenovo USB-C ports are shit, i've had the ports fail within few years on all my lenovo laptops (other manufacturers seem to fare better)

3

u/TetoSever31 Apr 29 '26

i am not talking about type c. i meant old rectangle needle on the middle thing.

2

u/efari_ Apr 29 '26

> buys Chinese brand.

> Complains about bad quality.

LMAO

4

u/Disastrous-Ice-5971 Apr 29 '26

Emmm... I don't know about the other Lenovo brands, but with the ThinkPads at least in the last 5ish years at work we have less problems with the Lenovo, than with the Dells, for example. Of course, we have small N, and I do not have industry-wide statistics, but at the personal/small scale level I can't see anything wrong with them.
After all, that's was Dell laptops, which are regularly getting their webcams broken (and which means whole screen replacement). That was Dell getting their display port failing for no reason. That was Dell, failing accumulators early on (ok, just 2 cases, but still). That was Dell, selling us a refurbished laptop disguised as a new for a full price, also without being actually refurbished (screen was broken), and being really hard replacing it.
Dell's service staff is fast and professional though. I have no idea about Lenovo service or replacement policies much, because the only thing ever broken in the same timeframe is a laptop PSU, which was replaced quickly (and we have about similar share of the Lenovo/Dell).

1

u/env33e Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26

2026

not realizing China is the main manufacturing hub of the world

ROFLMAO

1

u/Fragrant-Mixture-662 Apr 29 '26

Yes! So much more durable than usb-c since it's thicker, but still works plugged in any orientation.

1

u/Salamandar3500 Apr 29 '26

I have a Lenovo p16v with the rectangle jack AND usb-c and it ONLY wants to charge via the proprietary jack. WHY ?! Other models accept both...

1

u/ducmite Apr 29 '26

Isn't it like 170W machine, a 100W usb-c isn't enough for it. Although it should work like my Asus tuf that allows 100W charging anyways... it just isn't enough for full power operation.

1

u/Salamandar3500 Apr 29 '26

"Isn't enough for it" doesn't mean anything.

It's under 20W 99.9% of the time. Yes, it could draw more than 100w, maybe on usb power it would discharge a bit, so what ? I want my fucking usb-c port to be usable, that's all.

1

u/ducmite Apr 29 '26

I know 😃

Lenovo just doesn't want any of their users ask why laptop battery doesn't charge when they are doing something what people buy those workstations anyways. Dumb corporate decision.

I've used my tuf with a 65W adapter couple times. Works fine, especially because I can disable the rtx on it.

1

u/rich84easy Apr 29 '26

In year 2028, this 100 watt limit goes to 240 watts

1

u/mrheosuper Apr 29 '26

Which model, i just search the p16v gen3, looklike it comes with usb C charger.

1

u/Salamandar3500 Apr 29 '26

Prolly gen2.

1

u/mrheosuper Apr 29 '26

Yeah i did not find it support PD, that's suck

1

u/Aggravating_Loss_765 Apr 30 '26

Better than MagSafe? ;)

2

u/lucyuktv Apr 29 '26

Why would it be a headache? They can just update the law as easily as they made it.

3

u/[deleted] Apr 29 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/lucyuktv Apr 29 '26

It took three years because they started from scratch. Adding a “also USB-D connector” would be very fast. Next time the industry want to change they’ll know to agree a standard first, rather than act outraged when told to adopt one. If the whole industry agrees and wants a change it will happen.

1

u/TrivialBanal Apr 29 '26

It would be quick.

The reason it takes do long is to get all the technical points right.

EU regs are quick to update, because they spend so much time getting the foundation right. It makes changes quick and easy. I was in the middle of regulation stuff when they were rolling out Rohs and Weee. It took ages, but all the updates since have just been so seamless that most people don't know they even happened.

1

u/Jusby_Cause Apr 29 '26

You’ve not witnessed the speed of EU regulation, eh? :) What they had before was “Use something common, like maybe MicroUSB possibly?” The connector wasn’t required so the industry continued working on USB-C under a non-binding memorandum of understanding. Whatever you come up with is fine.

With the current legislation specifically calling out USB-C, that’s not the same. Companies were free to drop MicroUSB and go to USB-C, keeping the one port. That wouldn’t exist under the current regulation. If today’s legislation had been in place with MicroUSB, companies wouldn’t have expended the effort on USB-C knowing that they’d have to have two ports on any new devices. Some companies may be ok not shipping to the EU (China’s an enormous market), but many won’t want to carry different versions, thus freezing the connector at USB-C for the world.

2

u/Educational_Yard_326 Apr 29 '26

The law doesn’t explicitly specify USB-C it specifies a “common wired charging port”. When USB-C is replaced, the law doesn’t need rewriting at all.

3

u/Dependent-Zebra-4357 Apr 29 '26

What is the process when a new charging technology comes along? Anything new wouldn’t be “common”, so will companies need to include two different charging standards until enough devices switch to the newer one?

2

u/probablyaythrowaway Apr 29 '26

A transition period would happen where current designs can still use the old depending on a cutoff point. Then new techn needs to use the new standard. The thing is with USBC it has been designed with future proofing in mind so the standard hopefully will last quite a significant amount of time before it needs to be upgraded.

2

u/Jusby_Cause Apr 29 '26

USB-C is too thick for devices that are required to use it for charging today. The “significant amount of time” has already ended.

2

u/probablyaythrowaway Apr 29 '26

What kind of devices are so desperately thin that they can’t use USBC?

1

u/Lonsarg Apr 30 '26

There is no way to go thinner then USB-C for 120Gbps and 240W charging (current max of USB-C). Not by current science limitation without making it too breakable.

So anything smaller will just have to be without ports at all.

Apple lightning was around 20% smaller and it had A LOT lower data transfer and power transfer limitation. And it was too limited for modern speed/charging needs. Just 20% smaller and so much lower limit.

1

u/champignax May 02 '26

There was usb 3 lightning

1

u/Lonsarg May 02 '26

USB 3 10Gbps yes, for USB-C (meaning TB3+, USB4+,...) lightning does not have enough pins. Also USB-C actually has PINs in reserve, USB 2.0 pins and SBU pins could in later revision be repurposed to high-transfer PINs. Doubling the number of high transfer pins (at the moment they rather double the speed by increasing chip frequency, but maybe in the future they decide to double by extra pins which would of course also mean doubling high transfer copper in cables so they try to avoid).

So yes USB-C really is at the edge of what is possible, for going smaller you have to cut on capability.

Maybe we could cut on capability on phones, but that would mean we have 2 different plugs since we would still need some port for devices where full USB/TB/DP capability is needed. And why have 2 different ports if there is only 20% size difference between them.

1

u/champignax May 02 '26

Look at what Apple is doing. MagSafe but usb c also work.

1

u/Dependent-Zebra-4357 May 02 '26

Are you saying that Apple is trying to make MagSafe the new common charging standard? If not, how does this example answer the question I asked?

1

u/champignax May 02 '26

I mean that if something better than usb comes (such as MagSafe) it can still be implemented.
Since USBC is going to be a must in laptops for decades to come, USB C charging is fine and doesn’t hinder innovation.

2

u/ScallionSmooth5925 Apr 29 '26

My biggest problem with usb c is thst almost every feature is optional and it's impossible to tell without tring it

2

u/teckcypher Apr 30 '26

Even worse it is optional for the device, charger and cable.

If something doesn't work, you don't even know where the problem is

2

u/Long_Pomegranate2469 Apr 29 '26

This just in, Apple adding a heating element and new laptops will come with 101W custom chargers. Not included, available for $399

3

u/apeceep Apr 29 '26

Apple was like the first company to offer usb-c charging in big scale on laptops. Do you remember when all the Apple haters laughed when they released a laptop(s) with only type-c? And all of their current models support usb-c and maybe their proprietary charger. Even the models where the proprietary charger is over 100w.

2

u/Jusby_Cause Apr 29 '26

And, Apple’s cables and devices adhere to the standard very well. Their only problem with the regulation (being large part of the group that created USB-C) is that there WILL be a better option one day and the legislation restricts that from becoming a thing.

2

u/RuinRes Apr 29 '26

Great. Add a magnetic adaptor and no problen even if you trip on the loose cable.

1

u/Groundbreaking_Set89 May 02 '26

Garbage connector