Apple and other smartphone makers will have to support USB-C as part of a single charging standard for mobile devices across the European Union as early as September 2024.
European Union officials said they had signed an interim agreement on Tuesday that would require a uniform charging cable on the 27-nation bloc.
It was part of a broader effort to make products sold in the EU more sustainable, reduce e-waste and eliminate “cable clutter,” said Margrethe Vestager, vice president of the European Commission.
Apple and other smartphone makers will have to support USB-C as part of a single charging standard for mobile devices across the European Union in September 2024 (Jakub Porzycki / NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“European consumers were frustrated with multiple chargers at home,” Alex Agius Saliba, the European Parliament’s chief negotiator, told a news conference in Brussels.
“Now, they will be able to go with a single charger for all portable electronic devices, which is an important step to increase consumer convenience.”
According to the law, according to a statement, “mobile phones, tablets, e-readers, headphones, digital cameras, headphones and earphones, portable video game consoles and portable speakers that are recharged via a wired cable must be equipped with a USB “Type C port, regardless of its manufacture”.
The next rules will apply to new small and medium-sized electronics sold in the EU.
Although the rules apply only to devices sold in the European single market, such as strict EU privacy regulations, they could end up becoming a de facto standard for the rest of the world.
European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton speaks at a press conference on a common charging solution for mobile phones at the EU headquarters in Brussels on Thursday 23 September 2021. (AP Photo / Thierry Monasse )
Chargers that support fast charging will also need to adopt the same charging speeds. The measure does not affect wireless charging technologies.
Consumers should be able to buy a device without a charger included if they want it, which the EU estimates will save them 250 million euros ($ 371 million) a year.
“One in three chargers included with these products never opens from their original packaging,” according to the European Commission’s impact assessment, Saliba said.
The new rule will mean major changes for iPhone users.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But during the legislative process, Apple told EU officials that the proposed rule would make up to a billion devices and accessories using the company’s proprietary Lightning connector obsolete, according to a report by the EU Parliament.
A 2021 study cited in the same report found that iPhones with the Lightning connector accounted for 18% of new mobile phone sales in 2019, with 44% using USB-C and 38% using USB Micro connector -B older.
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The writing has been on the wall for the end of Apple’s Lightning connector for a long time. Apple already uses the USB-C standard on some Macs and iPads, and is said to be testing iPhone models that exchange the Lightning port.
But Tuesday’s announcement could speed up Apple’s switch to USB-C and potentially lead to the company dropping Lightning around the world for good.
Efforts to demand a single standard for cargo in Europe go back more than a decade. At one point, officials had secured industry support for the Micro-B USB standard, but a voluntary agreement between major manufacturers to that effect expired in 2014 and was not replaced. The next law to require USB-C, however, is one of the first of its kind.
This Tuesday’s announcement came after trilateral negotiations between the European Commission, Parliament and the Council. The collection measure has yet to receive final approval before it enters into force, but the process is largely considered a formality.