On October 4, 2022, The European Parliament voted in an overwhelming majority in favour of forcing USB-C as the universal charging port across a broad range of consumer electronics, including Apple’s iPhone which still uses its own Lightning connector technology apart from other smartphones. According to the European Union, the legislation is part of the wider European Union’s efforts to make products within the EU more environmentally friendly, to reduce electronics waste, and to simplify consumers lives (Guarascio, 2022).
By 2024, all devices covered by the legislation and sold in the 27 European countries will be required to use the universal USB-C port to enable charging over a cable. Under the new rules, manufacturers will be forced to include USB-C ports in all smartphones, laptops, tablets, headphones, and other electronics. The charging speeds are also being harmonised for devices with faster charging capabilities, which would enable users to charge their devices with the same speeds using any compatible charger (Guarascio, 2022).
Apple and USB-C
Currently, only the newer generation Apple MacBooks (2015 or newer), iMacs (2016 or newer), and iPad Pros and Airs (2018 or newer) have USB-C ports. Other Apple products, such as the AirPods, Apple Watch, and Mac accessories like the Magic Mouse and Magic Keyboard do not have a USB-C port and still rely on the Lightning connector. The new EU regulation will require newer generations of these products to be changed as well.
Prediction
While the EU’s new laws would apply only in European countries, the latest changes would only force Apple to move towards USB-C worldwide, as it would be illogical for Apple to solely sell iPhones with a USB-C connector in Europe. However, many analysts think that Apple will temporarily switch to USB-C in its iPhone line-up for one year before going all wireless, and thus, ditch the wired charging connector at all (Gurman, 2022). This would be a risky and crucial decision, since quite some electronic devices still require a wired connection to phones to transfer data, such as many basic car infotainment systems which only support a wired version of Apple CarPlay and/or Android Auto.
References
Guarascio, F., 2022. Apple forced to change charger in Europe as EU approves overhaul. [online] Reuters. Available at: <https://www.reuters.com/technology/eu-parliament-adopts-rules-common-charger-electronic-devices-2022-10-04/> [Accessed 12 October 2022].
Gurman, M., 2022. Apple’s Move to USB-C Is Just a Stopgap Before Its Wireless Future. [online] Bloomberg. Available at: <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-10-09/will-the-iphone-15-get-usb-c-port-will-apple-aapl-release-a-wireless-iphone-l91edtxt>
Very informative post! I am excited to see at how Apple and other smart phone companies will do to deal with this. I would like to be able to buy the same cable anywhere, or borrow anyone’s cable to charge without having to ask “what device do you have?”. The utopian target sounds nice, however the transition might be rough, but also innovative. For example, these types of ports could have different speed or power, which means all new phones in the future may have to have similar specs to handle this hardware. But also the potential decision of Apple going completely wireless could be interesting too! After all, it is always the trend in technology where after one company changes something dramatically, other companies comply since most customers are now accustomed to the new change.
Hey Jordi, interesting post about the USB-C developments. I think you proposed it in an interesting way, as Apple indeed is the only one who seems to be against USB-C. One reasons they mentioned for this was the lack of innovativeness if all ports are being ‘regulated’. What do you think of this statement? Might they actually be right? Or was this really a cost-effective way of pulling an extreme amount of money on their own cables (with the Lightning exclusivity)?
I’m also curious to see how Apple specifically is going to deal with this. Going wireless is a bold thing to do, but this also makes me think of the time where they removed the o-so-important 3,5 mm jack.
Hi Willem-Jelle, thanks for your reply. In a way, I think that Apple is right about the innovativeness, but I do see the point you are making on Apple’s cable strategy. USB-C was developed by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), a group of companies that have developed this standard over the years. As USB-C will be mandatory, Apple will lose its control over the port and will not have the freedom to directly introduce better/newer improvements or change features of this port, as they have to conform to the standards of the USB-IF group.
Besides, requesting improvements and changes to the port might take a couple of years and need to be approved by other stakeholders as well. For example, we have seen that the classic USB-A (the USB port we are all familiar with) has only slowly been changing every four years, even though, there were a lot of improvements already developed before this standard was updated.
Moving to all wireless will definitely be a bold move, as the charging port is a core feature compared to having a 3.5 mm jack. In my opinion, going wireless is feasible, but doing this within two years is too early. Especially, as mentioned in the post, a lot of devices rely on a wired connection with the iPhone. Though, I assume one of Apple’s arguments will be to improve water resistance and reduce their e-waste by not providing cables in their iPhone boxes any more. I do even think that they will consider developing “receiver” dongles that can be inserted into USB-C ports and can wirelessly connect to iPhones.
Very interesting post! one thing that comes to my mind as well is how will they be able to regulate with what power you charge your phones? How will they protect the battery if a user decides to plug a mac book pro charger into their iPhone. I can imagine this was easier to do with the lighting cable vs the usb-C cable. One thought that comes to mind with the possible shift to fully wireless is fast charging, as cabled charging is much faster than wireless currently. This will be interesting to see what they have in store. Another really interesting feature to see how long it will take to implement is truly wireless charging and if this is even a feasible technology at some point in the future.
Very interesting article informing us of the changes!
Very interesting blog! I am curious if this legislation will be extended to America, I did read online that there has been a call for it. It would indeed be very inconvenient for Apple to only apply USB-C in Europe. I am also curious to see what charging will look like with other devices, because as mentioned, the legislation applies to all devices. But if you look at an Apple Watch, for example, you charge it differently from an iPhone or MacBook. With an iPhone or MacBook you just plug the charger into the device, the Apple Watch has no plug in but is charged magnetically. Although I saw online that the latest watches are charged by fast magnetic Apple Watch charger-to-USB-C cable, which has the USB-C but still no plug. It remains exciting in the future how things will turn out with wireless charging.
Very interesting blog! I am curious if this legislation will be extended to America, I did read online that there has been a call for it. It would indeed be inconvenient for Apple to only apply USB-C in Europe. I am also very curious what charging will look like with other devices, because as mentioned, the legislation applies to all devices. But if you look at an Apple Watch, for example, you charge it very differently from an iPhone or MacBook. With an iPhone or MacBook you just plug the charger into the device, the Apple Watch has no plug-in but is charged magnetically. Although I saw online that the latest watches are charged by fast magnetic Apple Watch charger-to-USB-C cable, which has the USB-C but no plug. It remains exciting in the future how things will turn out with wireless charging.