There was quite a lot of discussion yesterday – and not a little confusion – when it was revealed that the new M5 14-inch MacBook Pro announced yesterday doesn’t include a power adapter in the box when bought in the UK or EU countries.
Many were claiming that this is because EU law prohibits the inclusion of a charger when selling new electronic products, but that is not actually the case …
What EU law says, and why
The European Union was concerned about the growing problem of e-waste. There were two key contributors to this, and the EU therefore responded with one new requirement to tackle each of them.
First, different companies used different charging port standards for everything from smartphones to laptops. These included:
MicroUSB
MiniUSB
USB-C
Coaxial connectors (barrel plugs and jacks)
This meant that when a consumer changed device, they might be left with a now-useless charger for the older model.
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