After much campaigning, negotiation and delay, the EU has finally approved a rule that could force the iPhone to adopt USB-C standards by the fall of 2024.
The negotiators reached a tentative agreement on revising the radio equipment guidelines that would make USB-CK a common charging port for all EU mobile phones, including laptops, tablets, digital cameras, handheld game consoles, e-readers and other portables. Electrical equipment.
Apple has not yet responded to the news, but could play into its hands during the reign. Ming-Chi Kuo claimed last month that the company already plans to switch from Lightning to USB-C and will do so in 2023. In other words, the iPhone 14 could be the last Lightning iPhone. We’ll know more when Apple unveils its new iPhone this fall, but some analysts expect a USB-C iPhone soon.
Of course, there are other options when considering Apple’s response. For one thing এবং and it assumes it’s not already using this strategy এটি it can fight and try to lobby and get out of its way: a few technology companies have such extensive legal, political, and financial resources. Has access. At the moment, though, the EU seems to have made up its mind.
Theoretically, since this ruling only applies to the EU, Apple could make two versions of its iPhones from 2024, where USB-C models were sold in Europe and Lightning elsewhere, but it also seems unlikely that it would impose a logistical burden. . The company’s supply chain.
One possible way for Apple to comply with this ruling for a relatively long time is to avoid the USB-C stage and become directly portless. An iPhone without a charging port has long been a rumor, and it will provide benefits in terms of waterproofing and slimline design. Wireless charging is slower and less efficient than wired charging, and many users prefer the option of plugging in wired headphones: they suffer 3.5mm loss but will have no alternative to either Lightning or USB-C. An extra pain. In terms of both the practicality of the product and the readiness of the user, we suspect that the portless iPhone is off more than 2024.
So this seems to be an additional indication of Apple’s adoption of USB-C in its iPhones by 2023 or 2024. Which, of course, made the video an overnight sensation.
The steps have been coming a long time. Long before 2014, the European Parliament recommended a common charger standard that would force all mobile phones to use; Following a resolution in January 2020, it called on the European Commission to adopt such a standard “as a matter of urgency to avoid further internal market segregation”. The law that was approved today was first discussed in September last year.
“Today we have made the ordinary charger a reality in Europe,” said Alex Agius Saliba, a member of the European Parliament. “European consumers have long been frustrated with the addition of multiple chargers to each new device. Now they will be able to use a single charger for all their portable electronics. ”