The Charger That Almost Freed Us All

In 2009, fourteen phone manufacturers — including Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, and Motorola — signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the European Commission, promising that by 2011 every new mobile phone would charge via a single standard: micro-USB. The EU held off on making it mandatory. Then one company found a loophole in Annex II, section 4.2.1: you only had to support the standard via an adapter, not build it in. Apple shipped a micro-USB adapter in the box — and kept the 30-pin connector. The MoU quietly expired. The drawer full of incompatible chargers lived on for another thirteen years.

It took a binding directive — EU Regulation 2022/2380 — to finally mandate USB-C for handhelds (December 2024) and laptops (April 2026).