Amber Neely
Apple's vice president of worldwide marketing confirms that Apple will swap out the Lightning connector for USB-C to comply with EU regulations.
Greg Joswiak, known as "Joz," spoke at the Wall Street Journal's Tech Live event on Tuesday evening.
He said Apple agreed with the European Union's decision to require a standardized charger for consumer devices.
"Obviously, we'll have to comply. We have no choice." he stated.
On Monday, the European Union gave its final approval to the standard charger directive, a plan that will force Apple and other electronics producers to use USB-C by the end of 2024.
Under the plan, USB-C ports will become mandatory on most consumer devices, including tablets, smartphones, keyboards, mice, game consoles, headphones, and more.
The hope is that the move will improve consumer convenience and reduce electronic waste significantly.
A new report claims that the forthcoming iPhone 15 range will switch to USB-C charging, and that Apple will still produce four models, with bigger feature differences than the iPhone 14 family has.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
55 Comments
This was inevitable without the EU’s mandates.
It makes sense now that Apple controls all the developments of their chips. Off the shelf controllers were probably too bulky or slow for iPhones.
I may be a iPhone 15 launch day buyer. My Xr is sorta dying, but want the USB-C to replace it.
I thought they had until 2024?
I hope like hell they also add a Thunderbolt/USB4 controller while they're at it.
If they're going to be adding USB-C and allow users to take Pro Raw photos and ProRes video, they ought to supply a way to get the content off the phones in a reasonable timeframe.
Is there any advantage of Lightning over USB-C? Having one charger is a huge convenience imo.