The EU recently formalized new legislation that will require most personal electronics to switch to USB-C for charging a data transfer. Now, for the first time, Apple has confirmed that it will have to comply with this new regulation, despite the fact that the company still fundamentally disagrees with the basis of the new common charger regulations
An iPhone with USB-C is coming
The confirmation came from Apple executive Greg Joswiak, the company’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. Joswiak and fellow Apple senior vice president Craig Federighi are being interviewed by Joanna Stern at a Wall Street Journal event. Stern kicked off the interview with a direct question about the USB-C vs Lightning debate.
Joswiak explained that USB-C and Lightning are the world’s two most popular connectors, with over 1 billion people using a Lightning cable of some sort. According to Joswiak, Apple’s belief is that the company struck a balance by using a type of cable that you can disconnect from the power brick, meaning one side can have Lightning and the other can have whichever sort of connector is most convenient for the user, such as USB-C or USB-A.
Joswiak said that the EU lawmakers and Apple have “been in this little bit of a disagreement” about the idea of a common charger regulation. He noted that despite the fact that the EU has good intentions, it’s a tricky thing to regulate. In particular, he points out that the EU lawmakers once tried to standardize on the now-outdated micro-USB connector.
Ultimately, however, Joswiak confirmed that Apple will have no choice but to comply with the new EU common charger regulation around USB-C. He stopped short of confirming that Apple will switch the iPhone to USB-C, but short of a wonky workaround, that’s the only real solution here. “For most iPhone customers, it’s about charging,” Joswiak said.
Reporting from sources including Bloomberg and Ming-Chi Kuo have indicated that Apple is planning to make the jump to USB-C with the iPhone 15 coming next year.
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