The European Union has set an official deadline for when all smartphones sold in its jurisdiction must have a USB-C port, including the iPhone.
The EU officially approved the common charger law in October, but a specific date for when the law would come into force was unknown. Now, in a newly published directive, the EU says all smartphones must have USB-C by December 28, 2024. Other consumer products, such as tablets and gadgets, will also be required to switch to USB-C under the new law. Products that rely solely on wireless charging with no port will not have to include USB-C.
Apple's vice president of worldwide marketing, Greg Joswiak "Joz," confirmed that Apple would have no choice but to adhere to the EU's new law. Joz didn't say when Apple would make the switch to USB-C and away from Lightning, but with the December 2024 deadline, Apple could wait until the iPhone 16 in September 2024 before transitioning to the newer port.
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Unpopular because they make unified charging jack mandatory? Everyone in the world should be happy that the EU has finally forced Apple to abandon the slow and outdated Lightning connector! The EU does many good things for its citizens, like free roaming in all member countries, roam like at home, I don't have to worry about that when I travel. I can buy goods duty-free throughout the Union, health insurance is valid throughout the Union, and so on. It's just modern and popular to bash the EU.
What next? EU demands all phones have an EU flag displayed at boot up? No wonder the EU is increasingly unpopular.
Apple can switch on the fly with the Apple Dongle Ultra. Have the best of both worlds: lightning and USB C, with the best, most powerful, thinnest and lightest dongle we’ve ever made. There has never been a faster, more versatile dongle with the cachet of the Apple Dongle Ultra.