Apple has confirmed that the company will begin to comply with the recent European Union mandate that requires all technology to use the same charging port by 2024. Up to now, iPhones and some iPads have used Apple’s proprietary charging port known as Lightning. However, last month the European Union passed a mandate that challenged this. The Union says that to cut down on waste, USB C will be the one and only charging port for all technology devices by 2024. If you don’t adopt that, you can’t sell your product in the EU.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Apple’s marketing lead Greg Joswiak confirmed that the company will comply with the new mandate in the EU and ship iPhones with a USB C charging port. However, Joswiak refused to answer whether or not this new adoption will take place outside of the EU too. In addition, Joswiak also dodged the question of when customers can expect a USB-C iPhone.
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We know that the mandate will come into effect by autumn 2024 which is around September that year. Apple’s new iPhones usually get announced by then but if they announce them before the cutoff date, Apple might get away with releasing another iPhone with a Lightning port in 2024. It is all about timing at this point.
Joswiak made it quite clear that Apple isn’t happy about being pushed into a corner regarding this change. He says that historically, Apple has always preferred to go its own way and trusts its engineers rather than being forced into adopting hardware standards by lawmakers. He used Micro USB as an example. The technology lived alongside the Lightning port for years and Apple didn’t release a single product that used the wonky charging and data port.
In the interview, he also suggests that switching from Lightning to USB C will result in even more e-waste for the region. He says that customers will have to adopt new charging cables and get rid of previous ones. These will likely end up in a landfill somewhere.
At the moment we don’t know if Apple will actually end up using USB C. The company has in the past, expressed its love for wireless charging. In addition, reports claimed that the company was looking into adopting a completely port-less iPhone and opting for MagSafe to charge it. If Apple doesn’t go this route, they will have to move to USB C.
Apple’s Craig Federighi and Greg Joswiak (@gregjoz) join @JoannaStern at #WSJTechLive to discuss products, privacy and power at the tech giant https://t.co/fNo2JGwMB4 https://t.co/aGrTlZrUo4
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) October 26, 2022
