Credit: Unsplash
The new EU mandate has forced Apple to take a critical look at its charging tech.
Earlier this week, the European Parliament approved a new mandate requiring all electronics manufacturers operating in the EU to conform to a uniform charging standard. By the year 2024, all manufacturers looking to do business in the EU will need to adopt the USB-C charging standard.
This change could prove to be a head-scratcher for Apple more than other manufacturers. While some Apple devices do have an option for USB-C connection, most of them still use the company’s proprietary Lightning chargers. Tech industry analysts speculate that if Apple complies with the mandate, it will likely throw out Lightning chargers all over the world, not just in the EU.
“It is now inevitable that Apple will have to capitulate and transition to USB-C on the iPhone 15 when it arrives in 2023,” Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight, said in a note to investors.
“My thinking is that Apple has already moved to USB-C on MacBook and iPad Pro so the transition has started. iPhone 14 was quite iterative so iPhone 15 could be a bigger step in design. Therefore, it would be a good time to make the change,” Wood clarified in a follow-up interview with CNBC.
Apple will be forced to get rid of their lightning port after the EU parliament passed a new law requiring the use of USB-C for all wired chargers by 2024 pic.twitter.com/y3rqTofnw0
— Dexerto (@Dexerto) October 4, 2022
“Most likely it would make sense that they get the scale out of moving to this common charger globally rather than having to make individual parts, unless they think that they’re really making so much [money] off of those chargers and accessories and that sort of thing that it’s still worth it for them to maintain that separate,” Bryan Ma, technology industry analyst at IDC, told CNBC.
“In their own house, they’re already getting ready and making preparations for the eventuality within a couple of years,” he added.
