Greg Joswiak, Apple’s Vice President of worldwide marketing, spoke at a Wall Street Journal conference held in Laguna Beach, California, that the company would need to comply with the EU’s new rules of adopting USB-C as the new standard. Pretty soon, we will see products with Lightning ports phased out and replaced with ones sporting the new interface.
With New Legislation in Its ‘Final Approval’ Stage, Various Devices Sold in Regions Falling Under the EU Will Need to Feature a USB-C Port by the End of 2024
Joswiak stated that Apple will comply as it does with other laws but cleverly declined to comment if the iPhone 15 series launching in 2023 would feature a USB-C port, according to Bloomberg. There have been rumors claiming that the company will introduce the new port before the EU’s intended time limit ends. However, Apple will likely utilize the available time it has to use the Lightning interface on some products to rake some revenue through its proprietary port in royalty payments before eventually shifting to the new standard.
Earlier, the EU gave final approval to the law that will force companies like Apple to abandon whatever proprietary ports they use and replace them with USB-C. The European Union stated that new rules will be applied to mobile phones, tablets, e-readers, digital cameras, video game consoles, headphones, earbuds, portable loudspeakers, wireless mice, keyboards, and portable navigation systems.
“The Council today gave its final approval to the common charger directive. This means that in 2024, a USB-C port will become mandatory for a whole range of electronic devices such as mobile phones, tablets, and headphones. It will no longer be necessary to buy a different charger every time you purchase a new mobile phone or similar device: all of them can be recharged using the same charger.”
Apple has slowly shifted to USB-C, with its iPad 10 the latest product to sport the new connector, though it should be noted that the company has not officially discontinued the iPad 9, which ships with the older Lightning port. We should see various other Apple products, such as AirPods and productivity accessories, eventually shift from Lighting to USB-C, thereby completing the transition required by the EU’s new law.
