Mike Peterson
The European Commission will soon present a legislative proposal that could institute a common charger for mobile devices in the EU, possibly forcing Apple to ditch Lightning for USB-C.
European officials have been pushing for a common charging standard for some time, despite protests from Apple and others in the technology industry.
According to Reuters, the introduction of a legislative proposal implementing a common charging standard in Europe could come as soon as Thursday, Sept. 23.
In addition to a proposed harmonized charging port, the European Commission reportedly also wants the sales of charging hardware to be decoupled from devices.
EU lawmakers claim that a common charger would be more convenient for consumers and would be more environmentally friendly. Apple has argued against mandated charging standards, claiming that they would dampen innovation, annoy consumers, and create unnecessary electronic waste.
It isn't clear what type of port the EU would mandate, but it would likely be USB-C. In 2018, half the chargers sold with mobile phones have a USB micro connector, while 29% had USB-C with an increase since. At the time, 21% had Apple's proprietary Lightning format but this has also increased with time.
Although Apple does have USB-C ports on some hardware, Lightning is standard on its iPhone devices. While some rumors have pointed toward a USB-C iPhone being likely in the future, other reports suggest that Apple isn't adopting USB-C anytime soon, and may instead opt for an entirely port-less iPhone.
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31 Comments
The EU can do whatever they want to but the metric system is not the standard in the US and I doubt there will ever be a single world-wide standard for much of anything. USB is an Intel standard, meaning the EU is defining a no-substitute requirement for mobile phone chargers. I have to wonder how much Intel is bribing the EU. If Apple goes with a mag-safe charger and no physical charging port, I bet the EU will complain and try and sue Apple to provide a physical charging port.
This makes no sense. Technology changes. Last time it was micro USB. Does this mean when such a legislation is passt does this mean there can never be a new technology? I mean someone needs to be the first to use the new standard would that company break the law?
Best Case: They go with USB-C and by the time it takes effect, Apple has already moved everything to USB-C
Worst Case: They go with some weird local plug standard that is only made and used in Slovakia or some such place and the rest of the world is completely f-ed.
Let’s see what they do.
Apple handled the micro-USB requirement by producing a micro-USB to lightning adapter and they already have a USB-C to lightning cable. Not sure if that would work in this case - harmonized charging port?
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