Universal USB-C charger approved by the European Parliament: Apple will have to say goodbye to Lightning in 2024

EU regulators have reached a final agreement. Forces all smartphones, including iPhone, to use the USB-C connector will be loaded. Apple will have to abandon the Lightning connector and adopt this new standard in its future mobile devices, as it will become mandatory in the “fall of 2024”.

Regulations too affects 15 other devices such as tablets (includes iPad), digital cameras, portable speakers, portable game consoles, headsets, laptops (not previously included) and eBook readers. In addition to the single-charge standard, the EU has reached an agreement to “harmonize” fast charge standards.

USB-C as a single connector in fall 2024

The European Parliament Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) announced the agreement. in a tweet today and confirmed with it confirmation of a transaction It has been working since 2014, when it was recommended to switch to “three mostly” out of about 30 different chargers available for mobile phones.

At the beginning of 2020, the European Parliament went further and voted in favour. apply a single binding to charge our mobile phones. From the outset, this connector seemed destined to be USB-C, and it will now be the universal connector for a large number of devices, except for those too small to be directly integrated (activity monitors, smartwatches or mini-headphones).

This process did not please Apple, which has been advocating the use of the Lightning connector for years. It is true that the Cupertino company uses USB connectors in their computers and also in the last iPad Air (2022), but Always resisted making this change on iPhone.

Regulations are being trialled, among other things, as announced live at a later press conference by those in charge of the European Parliament. reduce the amount of electronic waste It is produced with the presence of various standards.

In fact, they also spoke about them in the European Parliament. intention to no longer include the charger Gradually with devices: Thanks to this arrangement, users will obviously be more likely to already have a compatible charger.

The ratification of the agreement by the European Parliament today was very important for the implementation of the regulations. After the summer, both the Parliament and the European Council, confirm the deal Before publication in the EU Official Journal.

From there, it will start to be implemented 24 months later, will continue until the autumn of 2024 Don’t take exact action.

Not just Lightning: MagSafe also threatened

It is interesting to see that the list of devices that will adopt this unique charger has been expanded to 15 different devices. include laptops, which will have to use this connector for charging. In this case, manufacturers will have 40 months to adopt the regulation when it finally takes effect.

This, of course, affects the specific standards that some manufacturers continue to use: Microsoft does it with the Surface Connect connector, but it is also remarkable. effect of this on the MagSafe connector He said he was returning to his laptops and that if regulations were strictly enforced, they would have to disappear in the next 40 months.

It’s also true that manufacturers like Apple offer at least two alternatives for charging: both MagSafe and USB-C in their case. It is not yet clear whether the EU will allow both alternatives to be presented. or others as long as USB-C is one of them. The doubt is that the goal of reducing electronic waste, if allowed, would not be met so clearly.

So this year we’ll likely see the new iPhone or some iPads still have a Lightning port, but perhaps in 2023—analyst Ming-Chi Kuo this is how i stated Lately- Let’s have the first iPhone to use the USB-C connector. However, we’ll see if Apple goes to court to delay things further.

One of the spokespersons also answered the question of what would happen to Apple in the face of this regulation. “I have to be categorical,” he stressed, “if Apple wants to market its products in our home market, in two years they will have to use the USB-C standardHe pointed out that this legislation is “not just for Apple, but for fifteen types of devices that will need to use USB-C.”

Image | Lucian Alexei

More info | European Parliament