Amber Neely
Brazil is now the third country to call for Apple to replace its Lightning connector with the USB-C standard, citing that the change could help reduce electronic waste.
In early June, the European Union put forth new rules that would require all smartphones to utilize the USB-C standard for charging.
Shortly after, U.S. senators called on the U.S. Commerce Department mandate a universal common charger standard.
Now, Brazil has also called for universal charging support. But, like the EU, they believe Apple should swap its proprietary Lightning connector for the more widely-adopted USB-C.
According to Technoblog, as spotted by 9to5Mac, Brazilian regulators are pushing for smartphone manufactures to standardize their charging ports.
Anatel, the Brazilian regulatory agency, states that standardization would allow for greater consumer convenience.
Additionally, it believes that the move could reduce electronic waste by allowing customers to reuse chargers they already have.
Anatel's proposal would require companies to switch to USB-C by July 1, 2024.
The proposal does, however, allow for companies to move away from charging cables entirely. Any device that can only be recharged wirelessly would not be required to implement a USB-C charging port.
The agency is allowing Brazilians and tech companies to share their opinions about the project until August 26, 2022.
Apple may already be working on a USB-C iPhone. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that the 2023 "iPhone 15" will abandon the Lightning connector and instead use USB-C.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
27 Comments
Great can they take it one step further.
USBc-PD on all devices with a battery and no internal power supply.
Or PoE for things designed to be fixed (IP Cameras, Wifi, etc...)
Anything that might need an external transformer should be one of those.
So making billions of phones cables obsolete over night reduces waste. This is a plot to make someone money. It otherwise makes no sense. will they decide the next cable standard? Remember much of what’s in usb-c is from Apple’s work with Intel on Thunderbolt. Are they planning to force companies to stop forcing chrome on users and use standards instead of Google technology on their websites? Are they going to force video format compatibility so YouTube isn’t required to send quality videos on Android?
So basically "You've reached the pinnacle of ports. Quit innovating or we'll shut you down!"
My iPhone charger block for a few years now has been USB-C.
Isn’t they are the same government that fine Apple for not including the charger that creates e-waste?