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Reporter Zhang Yongyi Editor Gao Yulei
Source: Power Plant
In October 2022, the iPhone’s switch to the USB-C interface, the “big event” in the wrestling between Apple, the European Union and the United States, finally settled.
From Apple’s VP admitting that it will “abide by EU law” to Tianfeng International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo saying that “switching to USB-C will be a major update for the new iPhone”, all indicate that the iPhone 15 generation, which will be released in 2023, is equipped with USB-C The C interface has no suspense.
Once upon a time, a USB-C port was one of the most requested needs of iPhone users, but Apple has always been cautious about this issue, even though this issue has repeatedly brought Apple to the forefront of public opinion. An important reason why Apple is still reluctant to make concessions on this issue is the certification standard for iPhone accessories that Apple can make a lot of money from every year with the Lightning interface.
Therefore, after Apple lowered its attitude this time, many users also began to expect that the iPhone after using the USB-C interface can also keep up with the development of mobile phone fast charging, just like the similar domestic brand Android flagship mobile phones today.
But is reality really so idealistic?
In the recently released Redmi Note 12 series that Xiaomi has just released, the Redmi Note 12 Discovery Edition has reached 210W in terms of charging power – for comparison, the charging power of the iPhone series in the same period is still only 20W , the paper charging power of the two even has a gap in the number of digits.
To a certain extent, this is also a microcosm of the “arms race” of domestic mobile phone brands in charging technology in the past few years.
But on the other hand, a fact that mobile phone manufacturers often rarely tell you when introducing their own fast charging technology is that although the technical directions of high-power fast charging of various companies have gradually converged, there are few manufacturers. It is more common to use its own fast charging technology solution to set a threshold for third-party accessories: even these fast charging mobile phones with a power of hundreds of watts, but if you use a charging device that does not support the corresponding fast charging protocol, Often only 18W or even lower PD fast charging can be achieved.
It seems that behind the unification of the USB-C interface, it is still difficult to unify the charging experience: in other words, if you want to truly unify the charging experience of electronic devices, there may be more important matters than unifying the interface.
Unified interface, important?
In January 2022, Ding Lei, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and CEO of NetEase, submitted a proposal on “Unifying the Standard Ports of Smart Electronic Device Chargers to Further Reduce E-waste and Promote Carbon Neutrality”. The content is precisely about proposing to promote the standardization and unification of charging technology for electronic devices with the USB-C interface as the standard through legislation.
Although the follow-up proposal received a formal written reply from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. But what really caused the storm was actually an article on the public account “Fisheye Watch” refuting Ding Lei’s proposal.
In this article “Why Ding Lei is Wrong”. The article believes that whether the charging interface of electronic equipment is unified should be left to enterprises and the market to adjust. Unifying technical standards prematurely will stifle the motivation of enterprises to innovate.
Around this topic, the two arguments of “legislative guidance” and “market choice” are already commonplace, not only domestically, but also in the United States and Europe. Legislative bodies have been discussing topics for a long time.
But in any case, with the development of the industry fast charging protocol so far. The coexistence of various complicated charging protocols is the current status quo. Everyone relies on the USB-C interface, but it is not universal in nature.
The logic behind this phenomenon can actually be seen more clearly from the most stubborn Apple that insists on private interfaces: the 20W charger that Apple is currently selling is priced at 149 yuan on the official website. However, if users want to use a third-party charger to quickly charge the iPhone, they need to purchase Apple MFi-certified accessories to achieve normal fast charging.
But for accessory manufacturers, supporting MFi and having the MFi Logo printed on their product packaging is completely a heavy “Apple tax”: just purchasing a chip that supports the MFi protocol will cost $0.70. Each MFi-certified data cable costs nearly RMB 30 more than a data cable of the same specification but not MFi-certified.
Therefore, it is foreseeable that even if the iPhone series is currently facing problems such as the need to convert the iPhone 15 series released in 2023 to the USB-C interface, it is foreseeable that Apple will not easily give up the past profits around the interface and MFi accessories certification The way: Compared with directly relying on the iPhone to make money, charging for authorized and certified accessories is also one of Apple’s important sources of income.
With Apple’s “successful experience” first, many Android mobile phone manufacturers also hope to use a similar model to make money by licensing accessories to third-party accessories manufacturers. This further exacerbates the incompatibility between various private charging protocols.
In addition to various certifications, the high requirements of fast charging itself for charging equipment also limit the versatility of peripherals: for example, today’s fast charging of more than 100W, even if the interface is the same, the current passing power supported by the data cable is also clear. requirements, but these are often not clearly marked on the device.
It is also the tenth-generation iPad that has just been released recently. Although it has been updated to the USB-C interface, its technical specifications are still the old USB 2.0. In other words, the interface seems to be the same, but in fact, users cannot use this interface to make the basic model iPad, to achieve 4K 60Hz picture transmission, high-speed data transmission and other functions similar to iPad Pro.
It can also be seen from these perspectives that even if electronic products enter the future of USB-C “universal world”, which is already close to us, users will still face many differences in usage, which is more a result of manufacturers’ own concerns about their products. The difference caused by positioning has also directly led to the unification of many peripherals/charging specifications, which is still a long way from us.
It is important to unify the interface, but it is even more important to eliminate the barriers between manufacturers.
UFCS Certification
But now, the time has entered November 2022, and the status quo of this kind of division where manufacturers are independent and users can’t be bothered is finally going to change: recently, the first batch of mobile phones, store clerk adapters and mobile power supplies that use the UFCS integrated fast charging protocol are accessories. Already listed, there are many mobile phones and accessories from manufacturers such as Huawei, Xiaomi, Vivo and OPPO.
The UFCS (Universal Fast Charging Specification) integrated fast charging protocol is led by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, Huawei, OPPO, vivo, and Xiaomi, in conjunction with many terminals, chip companies and industries such as Silicon Power, Rockchip, Lihui Technology, and Angbao Electronics. A new generation of integrated fast charging protocol completed by the joint efforts of partners in the world. The agreement aims to formulate the integrated fast charging standard for mobile terminals, solve the problem of incompatibility of inter-matching fast charging, and create a fast, safe and compatible charging environment for end users.
The reason why they have been listed at the end of October is precisely because the first batch of UFCS integrated fast charging certification certificates have been issued. Among them are not only four new mobile phones recently released / about to be released, but also corresponding power adapters and more accessories. Two chips that are open to use by the manufacturer.
At present, the first batch of devices that support UFCS 1.0 fusion fast charging certification, these products not only support the original brand’s own fast charging protocol, but also support the 40W UFCS 1.0 fusion fast charging protocol, and the follow-up UFCS will continue to improve the inter-brand relationship. Standard versatility, with a target of 65W for the second phase.
It can be seen that if the first stage has not really opened the gap with the existing PD, the subsequent 2.0 and later iterative versions will rise with the “involution” of the domestic mobile phone brand’s fast charging technology. Really as an industry standard, it plays the role of a fast charging baseline.
In the remarks of the product introduction, you can also see these chargers that support UFCS 1.0. In the introduction, fast charging support for other brands of mobile phones that support the UFCS protocol is specially marked. Compared with the slow progress of the unified push alliance built by many domestic mobile phone manufacturers, the integration of fast charging technology has indeed achieved at least some rules to follow to make the charging experience of mobile phones unified, and the interconnection between different brands and manufacturers has changed. lower cost.
Mobile phone manufacturers who were often “friends and friends, shoot first” and became some kind of derogatory term, this time, for a more unified fast charging experience, they finally stood on the same front. This may be more. important meaning.
On this unified standard, the competition between the various products does not actually conflict. It can even bring obvious advantages: on the basis of the universal fast charging protocol, it is more reasonable for manufacturers to release various flagship mobile phones that support fast charging without a charger in the package, which greatly reduces the “fast charging cost”. The probability of occurrence of the embarrassing scene without a corresponding fast charging charger.
For users, of course, the biggest advantage is also here: the private fast charging protocol of mobile phone brands will continue to exist, and only geek users who seek to make their devices charge the fastest will need to purchase the corresponding charging case separately. The package, even if the manufacturer no longer comes with a charger/data cable, can still use the existing fusion fast charging charger to achieve fast charging in a very “environmentally friendly” manner.
In the future, “seeking common ground while reserving differences” may be the ultimate industry prospect for a unified charging experience: mobile phone manufacturers continue to develop their own private fast charging protocols, but the integration of fast charging standards as a baseline that is also constantly updated ensures that various protocols are compatible. compatibility. After “USB-C dominates the world”, the moment of “one charging head dominates the world” can also come as soon as possible.
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