EU Sets Official Deadline for When iPhone Must Switch to USB-C

[timber]

I really wish they had not left in a loophole that phones can be portless. It'd be just like Apple to try to force a portless phone on us.

USB ports are much more efficient for charging, and allow for bare metal OS restores when things go wrong. It would be a huge loss for them to go away.

That would imply that the goal is to be some kind of over reaching overlord.
The main benefit and probably idea is ending micro usb which shows up in a lot of devices (not only phones) but of course Apple is always on the news.
If they want to do portless, then do it. It will sell or it won't and that's perfectly fine.

 

[zorinlynx]

That would imply that the goal is to be some kind of over reaching overlord.
The main benefit and probably idea is ending micro usb which shows up in a lot of devices (not only phones) but of course Apple is always on the news.
If they want to do portless, then do it. It will sell or it won't and that's perfectly fine.

I think we can all agree on ending microUSB. Holy crap there's still brand new stuff being manufactured right now with that ancient crappy port. My guess is some manufacturer had a massive stock of connectors and has been unloading them cheap.

 

[timber]

I think we can all agree on ending microUSB. Holy crap there's still brand new stuff being manufactured right now with that ancient crappy port. My guess is some manufacturer had a massive stock of connectors and has been unloading them cheap.

Even worse than micro USB are those round proprietary power connectors with always slightly different diameters found in some devices that come under this regulation.
One thing where this supports Apple's decisions is the fact that unbundling chargers from devices is implicit in the regulation and will be evaluated in the coming years. For some reason I never see this mentioned.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Yes. Unpopular because a bunch of fat, useless politicians get to decide what kind of toilet paper we are allowed to use, or how many times a day we are allowed to sneeze.
Nobody's forcing you to buy an iPhone. If you don't like its Lightning port, then don't buy it. There's no need for politicians to force the manufacturers into making something you like. The market should decide this.

I live in the EU and, while I admit it's nice to be able to travel freely and to buy goods duty-free, I loathe the despicable way in which Brussels politicians intrude into all the little aspects of our lives.

Likewise, if you don't like the USB-C port, then don't buy a phone with it. OH WAIT...you won't be able to because almost all other phones already have USB-C. So yeah, smart idea to keep a decade-old connector on a device forever. /s

I guess the market HAS decided this after all...

 

[Macintosh Quadra 840av]

Keep in mind that it's all products released after Dec 29th, 2024. So the iPhone 16 will be out by that point and will be able to remain for sale. It won't be until the iPhone 17 release in 2025 that Apple would really have to switch to USB-C, though they may choose to do so sooner or go another route.

 

[paulovsouza]

I know this is more on Apple, but by 2025 what if new technology better than USB-C comes out? Are they then forced to go to the older technology, instead of straight to the new standard. That’s why I think Apple will just go straight wireless.

 

[gaximus]

Wireless only is ********. Here's just one reason: Most people would not be able to use CarPlay anymore. And even those with wireless CarPlay might prefer the cable because wired is more stable and reliable than wireless transmission.

I agree, I have CarPlay and would be upset. But...This could be what Apple does. They were very clear on their wording when they said they would "Comply with the law", not "We will add usb C". Knowing Apple they will sell a $50 CarPlay Dongle that plugs into usb. There are already 3rd party adapters that work pretty well, I'm sure Apple would like to sell these with a new phone.

 

[icanhazmac]

You should be more careful about tripping over your charging cables and that wouldn't happen.

One would think but luckily that never happened, nothing but normal use, power cord, watch charger and hub, nothing else. That whole laptop was a steaming dumpster fire.

Furthers my point though, magsafe is a far superior charging system for laptops but the EU wants USBC so now Apple needs to include support for both and everyone else gets to trip over their cords and faceplant their laptops.

 

[timber]

One would think but luckily that never happened, nothing but normal use, power cord, watch charger and hub, nothing else. That whole laptop was a steaming dumpster fire.

Furthers my point though, magsafe is a far superior charging system for laptops but the EU wants USBC so now Apple needs to include support for both and everyone else gets to trip over their cords and faceplant their laptops.

As long as the laptop can charge through USB-C nobody is preventing Apple from keep doing Magsafe ports.
Which is what they already do and it's great for single or docked use.

 

[howywood]

Next up a new inclusivity law to prevent the popular use of the term male/female connector

Good move. My male connector identifies as non-binary and it's been giving me grief for years!

 

[slplss]

The EU are even more morally bankrupt than Apple with Tim Crook at the helm. The fact some trans-National organization can dictate what charging port a private company can use is insane.

Of course they can do that. US does it too. Or can you buy Huawei in US? That’s just for electronics, there’s regulators for everything you can buy. They don’t force Apple in any way - they can always stop to sell there (but they won’$).

 

[guzhogi]

I think we can all agree on ending microUSB. Holy crap there's still brand new stuff being manufactured right now with that ancient crappy port. My guess is some manufacturer had a massive stock of connectors and has been unloading them cheap.

Even worse than micro USB are those round proprietary power connectors with always slightly different diameters found in some devices that come under this regulation.
One thing where this supports Apple's decisions is the fact that unbundling chargers from devices is implicit in the regulation and will be evaluated in the coming years. For some reason I never see this mentioned.

As someone who works in IT, I hate all thin, tiny plugs (power or not) just because they break so easily. I get the appeal of thin, light connectors, but they also suck in their fragility.

I also hope (but do not really expect) USB-C on AirPods Max so we can finally do full lossless (bonus for high def lossless) with them, along with the spatial audio. USB-C or wifi. Really sucks and embarrassing that Apple offers lossless music, but doesn't have any headphones that support it. Heck, even on its Mac computers, you need an external USB DAC that supports the full high def lossless.

 

[icanhazmac]

As long as the laptop can charge through USB-C nobody is preventing Apple from keep doing Magsafe ports.
Which is what they already do and it's great for single or docked use.

because being forced to support two separate charging systems makes sense. We pay for the engineering, we pay for the parts we pay for the cords. Without the EU meddling we would just have MagSafe and the world would be better for it, I've seen people trip and wipe out laptops. Thankfully it wasn't me but saw someone trip over a charging cord in a Starbucks and wipe out someone else's MB, that was painful.

 

[enterthemerdaverse]

We will get much better than USB-C. We will get Thunderbolt.

 

[gammamonk]

Keep in mind that it's all products released after Dec 29th, 2024. So the iPhone 16 will be out by that point and will be able to remain for sale. It won't be until the iPhone 17 release in 2025 that Apple would really have to switch to USB-C, though they may choose to do so sooner or go another route.

I have a hunch they'll switch in 2023. Even though a Sept 2024 release could still be lightning, they'd get bad press coverage for doing so. Switch it early and Apple can pretend it was their decision, and get this out of the tech news cycle finally.

 

[bergert]

Apple’s reliance on the lightning connector is a joke. There is no real logic to their choice of connectors across their product line up.
All we should be using by now is USB-C to USB-C leads for everything.

Lightning was first introduced in 2012 (keep in mind it takes a year from design to releasing a product); but the first (quite different from today; and thus useless) USB-C standard was only published in 2014 (first products 2015).

Quite a joke, how the USB standard dragged on ...

 

[timber]

because being forced to support two separate charging systems makes sense. We pay for the engineering, we pay for the parts we pay for the cords. Without the EU meddling we would just have MagSafe and the world would be better for it, I've seen people trip and wipe out laptops. Thankfully it wasn't me but saw someone trip over a charging cord in a Starbucks and wipe out someone else's MB, that was painful.

Apple itself for some time had only one charging method, 1st MS (well, others before, but we don't need to go there), then USB-C and then decided they liked both.
So, no, the EU had nothing to do with it.

 

[Lakersfan74]

So iPhone 17 would have to be the first iPhone to comply phones released before then are OK with lightning. Now we just wait if Apple will wait until then or do it with the 15

 

[JM]

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.

View attachment 2125219

Looks good to me.

 

[ericwn]

The United Kingdom is the most intelligent European country.

Thanks for the chuckle.

 

[dahacouk]

Why are people so polarised these days? 🧘‍♂️☮️ I'm looking forward to ditching non-USB-C cables! Bring it on! 🎉 And down with the nay-sayers! 🤭🙄😜🤣🤣🤣

 

[darngooddesign]

I guess Apple cannot put the superior Thunderbolt 4 on their iPhone's?

I guess the iPad Pro needs to downgrade from Thunderbolt 4 to USB-C because of Europe?

USB-C is a port shape, not a speed.

 

[darngooddesign]

if they wait until iPhone 16 that would mean they would no longer be able to sell the previous years model in the EU which they always tend to sell for a lower price so that wouldn't really make too much sense to wait until that time

Last I checked the regulation is about new devices, not legacy devices, so technically Apple could release a Lightning iPhone 16 in September 2024.

 

[darngooddesign]

As someone who works in IT, I hate all thin, tiny plugs (power or not) just because they break so easily. I get the appeal of thin, light connectors, but they also suck in their fragility.

I also hope (but do not really expect) USB-C on AirPods Max so we can finally do full lossless (bonus for high def lossless) with them, along with the spatial audio. USB-C or wifi. Really sucks and embarrassing that Apple offers lossless music, but doesn't have any headphones that support it. Heck, even on its Mac computers, you need an external USB DAC that supports the full high def lossless.

You get lossless on the AirPod Max with a lightning cable.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

because being forced to support two separate charging systems makes sense. We pay for the engineering, we pay for the parts we pay for the cords. Without the EU meddling we would just have MagSafe and the world would be better for it, I've seen people trip and wipe out laptops. Thankfully it wasn't me but saw someone trip over a charging cord in a Starbucks and wipe out someone else's MB, that was painful.

You're not so narrow-minded as to think there aren't other brands of laptops and electronics in the EU? Dell/HP/MS/etc. can't put MagSafe on their laptops. There are more non-Apple laptops in the world than Apple laptops.