EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C by End of 2024

[fat jez]

This should've have happened many, many years ago. Better late than never though. Most politicians and governments are simply bumbling around, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Can't believe there are still people defending Lightning, which is an objectively inferior port with 2.0 transfer speeds in the year 2022 when Apple is boasting about ProRaw footage and 1TB storage.

I can’t believe people want to potentially transfer gigabytes of photos or videos over usb 2 speeds. Apple pretty much abandoned Lightning or we’d be up to 5Gbps data rates or more on it and people could have legitimate reason to complain. I welcome being able to transfer files at USB 3 speeds. I’m not the biggest fan of usb-c, but it is a fast, non-proprietary connector, unlike lightning.

Chargers aren’t suddenly going to be obsolete either, just the cable between charger and device.

 

[mrochester]

I can’t believe people want to potentially transfer gigabytes of photos or videos over usb 2 speeds. Apple pretty much abandoned Lightning or we’d be up to 5Gbps data rates or more on it and people could have legitimate reason to complain. I welcome being able to transfer files at USB 3 speeds. I’m not the biggest fan of usb-c, but it is a fast, non-proprietary connector, unlike lightning.

Chargers aren’t suddenly going to be obsolete either, just the cable between charger and device.

I’m puzzled as to what makes people think a switch to USBC is going to improve data speeds? Apple can already do USB 3 over lightning but just chose not to in their phones.

 

[fat jez]

I’m puzzled as to what makes people think a switch to USBC is going to improve data speeds? Apple can already do USB 3 over lightning but just chose not to in their phones.

They don’t have to. You can run usb 2 via usb-c connectors.

But it’s also widely pushed as being a high speed connection, 5Gbps, 10Gbps, up to 40 if you’re doing thunderbolt. People will likely have expectations. I for one want faster transfers to my devices.

 

[mrochester]

They don’t have to. You can run usb 2 via usb-c connectors.

But it’s also widely pushed as being a high speed connection, 5Gbps, 10Gbps, up to 40 if you’re doing thunderbolt. People will likely have expectations. I for one want faster transfers to my devices.

I presume they do USBC 3 on iPads because you need that to output to a second screen, which I also presume Apple doesn’t design or expect users to do with iPhones as thats not the use case.

 

[fat jez]

I presume they do USBC 3 on iPads because you need that to output to a second screen, which I also presume Apple doesn’t design or expect users to do with iPhones as thats not the use case.

It’s an interesting point. You can get video out of Android devices using USB-C and pretty sure you can add a keyboard and mouse to the equation too. I connected my Samsung S10 to a monitor to try it a couple of years back.

With Apple wanting to have more cross over between macOS and iOS, maybe it’s time we thought about being able to bring our phone inside, dock it and have a fully functioning computer? It would certainly be an interesting selling point against Android.

 

[giebe]

I think it will be implemented in iPhone 16. Apple won't change the design again after just one year of using the iPhone 14 design.

 

[JW Pepper]

I guess that means Apple will reduce the range of Phones offered for sale in the EU.

I am not in favour of the EU dictating a connector standard, it frankly is none of their business, the free market should be able to determine the sockes used. Now no one is going to develop a new faster better socket we are going to be stuck with USB-C for years.

What the EU should have done is completely ban wireless charging, this is so wasteful of energy it is the most inefficient way of charging any device.

 

[mrochester]

I guess that means Apple will reduce the range of Phones offered for sale in the EU.

I am not in favour of the EU dictating a connector standard, it frankly is none of their business, the free market should be able to determine the sockes used. Now no one is going to develop a new faster better socket we are going to be stuck with USB-C for years.

What the EU should have done is completely ban wireless charging, this is so wasteful of energy it is the most inefficient way of charging any device.

Why would Apple need to reduce the range? The legislation only applies to new devices released after end of 2024.

 

[vladi]

Apple already have different models in different parts of the world - such as the differences in this years sim/esim. Perhaps apple could keep innovation going by only putting usb c on European iPhones. I would prefer them to keep improving lightning performance - so I would prefer the UK models to stick with lightning.

What performance? Some Android phones are already on USB 3.2 SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps while iPhone 14 is still at USB 2.0

 

[vladi]

Terrible news. This will stifle innovation and competition. For example, it will limit the desire to create connectors that are more efficient, faster, cheaper, easier to use than USB-C.

And lightning cable is none of that.

 

[mrochester]

What performance? Some Android phones are already on USB 3.2 SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps while iPhone 14 is still at USB 2.0

Apple could have USB3 performance through lightning on the iPhone, they just choose not to. I presume data transfer speed via a cable is a fairly low priority for the iPhone since most things will be done wirelessly.

 

[flottenheimer]

The EU needs to be applauded when using its power to do the right thing.
Bravo.

 

[NazgulRR]

Genuine question why do you care about SKUs? I see these comments regularly and just don’t understand why people care.

Analysis paralysis. Too many models to choose from.

It’s designed for upsell, which is what shareholders want, but not customers. There’s a balance to be struck here and I think some customers would argue they’ve taken it too far over the last 2-3 years.

 

[fat jez]

Analysis paralysis. Too many models to choose from.

It’s designed for upsell, which is what shareholders want, but not customers. There’s a balance to be struck here and I think some customers would argue they’ve taken it too far over the last 2-3 years.

I’ve said that. Looking at the iPhone 12, 13 and 14 all on sale at the same time. Especially between the 13 and 14 (mini excepted).

 

[doobydoooby]

Terrible news. This will stifle innovation and competition. For example, it will limit the desire to create connectors that are more efficient, faster, cheaper, easier to use than USB-C.

It will also increase costs for everyone because USB-C is significantly more expensive to implement than micro-USB or USB-A for cheap devices.

In addition, now we have to throw away countless e-waste from lightning cables, lightning chargers, and lightning accessories. It's not just lightning. There is even more e-waste coming from micro-USB and USB-A.

Once again, EU government is stepping into things that they shouldn't have. Thanks to them, I've had to click on cookie prompts at least 10,000 times already and I honestly could careless if websites used cookies.

I'm not against Apple using USB-C on all your devices. They're slowly getting there regardless. I'm against this kind of regulation because it will have unintended consequences.

Regulation only comes along when there's a stubborn (usually monopolistic) problem that isn't being rectified through market forces. So we have got to where we are because monopolistic incentives beat common sense: it's in shareholders' interest to keep doing the wrong but lucrative thing.

After years of Joe Bloggs complaining about this nest of cables and the industry not sorting it out on its own terms, the government eventually intervenes. Apple has been milking its proprietary cable for years; this was the inevitable response. So now we find ourselves in the ridiculous situation where when USB-D comes around, and it seems to be a good idea, nobody can implement it until the EU has a consultation period followed by an implementation period. Innovation is stifled because the industry looks after itself rather than global interest. But don't blame the EU, this was coming for a loooong time, and companies had ample time to adapt if they chose to do so... lightning was fabulous when it was introduced but has been old school for quite a few years now.

 

[mrochester]

Regulation only comes along when there's a stubborn (usually monopolistic) problem that isn't being rectified through market forces. So we have got to where we are because monopolistic incentives beat common sense: it's in shareholders' interest to keep doing the wrong but lucrative thing.

After years of Joe Bloggs complaining about this nest of cables and the industry not sorting it out on its own terms, the government eventually intervenes. Apple has been milking its proprietary cable for years; this was the inevitable response. So now we find ourselves in the ridiculous situation where when USB-D comes around, and it seems to be a good idea, nobody can implement it until the EU has a consultation period followed by an implementation period. Innovation is stifled because the industry looks after itself rather than global interest. But don't blame the EU, this was coming for a loooong time, and companies had ample time to adapt if they chose to do so... lightning was fabulous when it was introduced but has been old school for quite a few years now.

The trouble with what you’re saying is that there is only one outcome, USBC. You either voluntarily adopt USBC or the EU will force you to adopt USBC. There’s no actual choice available.

 

[fat jez]

Choice is ruled out when the standards bodies get together and look at what the next version of something needs to achieve and how this can be done. Then they look at the best solution and produce the spec that everybody needs to follow.

They’re probably doing this for usb 5 already, if not usb 6.

 

[mattferg]

Terrible news. This will stifle innovation and competition. For example, it will limit the desire to create connectors that are more efficient, faster, cheaper, easier to use than USB-C.

It will also increase costs for everyone because USB-C is significantly more expensive to implement than micro-USB or USB-A for cheap devices.

In addition, now we have to throw away countless e-waste from lightning cables, lightning chargers, and lightning accessories. It's not just lightning. There is even more e-waste coming from micro-USB and USB-A.

Once again, EU government is stepping into things that they shouldn't have. Thanks to them, I've had to click on cookie prompts at least 10,000 times already and I honestly could careless if websites used cookies.

I'm not against Apple using USB-C on all your devices. They're slowly getting there regardless. I'm against this kind of regulation because it will have unintended consequences.

This is quite possibly one of the worst takes I’ve read for some time, and is based in either wilful ignorance or an attempt to deceive or obfuscate the point.

This law doesn’t in any way prevent developments of future standards, nor does it lock in USB C as the forever connector. It forces companies to move away from existing proprietary or legacy connectors, and forces them to co-operate with the USB foundation for any future standards. This law fully allows for a future theoretical USB-D, it just prevents future proprietary pointless standards. There are no “better, faster, cheaper” connectors which will be proprietary or solely for one manufacturer.

I also can’t see how having third party connectors helps innovation anyway - Apple has held back Lightning on the iPhone to USB 2.0 for a decade now, with no intention of upgrading it. How is this more innovative when 99% of phones with USB C are 3.0 at the lowest end as STANDARD? Or are you referring to the sort of innovation where Apple had to release a £50 adapter to get HDMI out from Lightning, because it can’t do this natively - forcing them to send a H264 stream and making an adapter with an ARM processor in it? Such ‘efficiency’.

USB C is more expensive because of scale, but the cost we’re talking here is pennies per device. As this scales, costs will go down, with the bigger factor being costs of multiple cable types driving these costs way into the ground.

Lightning cables don’t need to be thrown out - they aren’t stopping you using Lightning on existing devices. This forces future devices to move on - you yourself seemed so obsessed with future standards, yet you ignore the fact this is just implementing a future standard.

Lightning “chargers” do not exist. The chargers are either already natively USB-C, or are USB-A and can be made to work with USB-C with a simple cable… given as you said above you were already disposing of an existing Lightning cable.

Lightning accessories - what even are these? As far as I’m aware these are few and far between, and those that did exist have since mostly moved on to wireless standards (docks, dongles, camera stuff, MagSafe etc) or are expensive proprietary video adapters which can be easily replaced with non-Apple USB-C standards.

Further to this - the majority of the rest of Apple’s ecosystem is already on USB-C. MacBooks, iPads - the owners of these don’t need to do anything as they already own a charger.

Where is the unintended E-Waste from USB and USB A? 99% of the latter devices can be used with USB-C with existing cables, and for the remaining Micro USB devices - if they’re eWaste it’s because they’re being replaced, so what difference does a connector change make?

There aren’t really unintended consequences from this law at all - more so you believe this to be as you haven’t understood the law or issue at all. You are not smarter than the EU. You’re against this regulation because you haven’t taken the smallest step in understanding it.

 

[mattferg]

Might be unpopular, but I like the cable on the right. Yes, lightning! Could it be improved to have the latest standards? Practically, lightning is much easier to plug in than USB-C. The draw for USB-C then, probably, is, it’s capable of having the latest standards + everyone is using it, and telling us they can’t carry an extra cable 😄.

Uhhh, how is Lightning easier to plug in? They’re both reversible cables with the same level of force. Do you mean Micro USB?

 

[mattferg]

* I have +10 USB to Lighting cables from having Apple devices for +10 years
* I have zero USB to USB-C cables.

This will just result in more e-waste.

For you yes. For the wider world, no.

 

[Bustycat]

Apple could have USB3 performance through lightning on the iPhone, they just choose not to. I presume data transfer speed via a cable is a fairly low priority for the iPhone since most things will be done wirelessly.

There is the worst natural limit on Lightning: 8 pins, comparing to 24 pins on USB-C.

 

[mattferg]

Bad wording in their statement. This won't solve a certain set of problems: namely, an 18W USB-C charger won't really help you charge a laptop and a 60W-rated cable won't help you charge something that draws 5 amps (and worse, could become a fire hazard)...

Electricity is pulled, not pushed. You run a 10w LED bulb on a fixture which supports a 100w tungsten and it isn’t a fire issue. Using a higher wattage charger on a lower wattage device isn’t an issue unless the device short circuits… which is a fire issue regardless of the charger used. 🤦🏻‍♂️

 

[senttoschool]

This is quite possibly one of the worst takes I’ve read for some time, and is based in either wilful ignorance or an attempt to deceive or obfuscate the point.

This law doesn’t in any way prevent developments of future standards, nor does it lock in USB C as the forever connector. It forces companies to move away from existing proprietary or legacy connectors, and forces them to co-operate with the USB foundation for any future standards. This law fully allows for a future theoretical USB-D, it just prevents future proprietary pointless standards. There are no “better, faster, cheaper” connectors which will be proprietary or solely for one manufacturer.

I also can’t see how having third party connectors helps innovation anyway - Apple has held back Lightning on the iPhone to USB 2.0 for a decade now, with no intention of upgrading it. How is this more innovative when 99% of phones with USB C are 3.0 at the lowest end as STANDARD? Or are you referring to the sort of innovation where Apple had to release a £50 adapter to get HDMI out from Lightning, because it can’t do this natively - forcing them to send a H264 stream and making an adapter with an ARM processor in it? Such ‘efficiency’.

USB C is more expensive because of scale, but the cost we’re talking here is pennies per device. As this scales, costs will go down, with the bigger factor being costs of multiple cable types driving these costs way into the ground.

Lightning cables don’t need to be thrown out - they aren’t stopping you using Lightning on existing devices. This forces future devices to move on - you yourself seemed so obsessed with future standards, yet you ignore the fact this is just implementing a future standard.

Lightning “chargers” do not exist. The chargers are either already natively USB-C, or are USB-A and can be made to work with USB-C with a simple cable… given as you said above you were already disposing of an existing Lightning cable.

Lightning accessories - what even are these? As far as I’m aware these are few and far between, and those that did exist have since mostly moved on to wireless standards (docks, dongles, camera stuff, MagSafe etc) or are expensive proprietary video adapters which can be easily replaced with non-Apple USB-C standards.

Further to this - the majority of the rest of Apple’s ecosystem is already on USB-C. MacBooks, iPads - the owners of these don’t need to do anything as they already own a charger.

Where is the unintended E-Waste from USB and USB A? 99% of the latter devices can be used with USB-C with existing cables, and for the remaining Micro USB devices - if they’re eWaste it’s because they’re being replaced, so what difference does a connector change make?

There aren’t really unintended consequences from this law at all - more so you believe this to be as you haven’t understood the law or issue at all. You are not smarter than the EU. You’re against this regulation because you haven’t taken the smallest step in understanding it.

So much misinformation in your post.

1. USB-C is 4-10x more expensive than USB-A. This is a disaster for inexpensive devices.
2. Apple is getting ready to move off lightning without this regulation. The last major device is the iPhone. Apple would be ready to move off with or without this regulation.
3. Google "lightning accessories". You'll find plenty.
4. Correct, vast majority of Apple's ecosystem are already USB-C. This regulation is pointless.
5. The e-waste for USB-A and micro-USB comes from the fact that all those cables will have to be thrown out in the near future and perfectly working devices will have to be replaced by USB-C versions as support USB-A and micro-USB are forced to shutdown.

EU is not that smart. Look at their protectionist policies. Look at how the vast majority of new big companies are either American or Chinese. Look at the unemployment rate in EU. Regulation has destroyed innovation in Europe.

Do you accept this cookie?

 

[deeddawg]

It’s an interesting point. You can get video out of Android devices using USB-C and pretty sure you can add a keyboard and mouse to the equation too. I connected my Samsung S10 to a monitor to try it a couple of years back.

You're confusing connector (USB type C) with data transfer protocols (USB 3.2 in its various flavors).

Just because a port or cable is USBC doesn't mean it's any faster than USB2.

 

[ericwn]

This is exactly the problem with this type of legislation.

Yes, someone will reply saying the law can be updated, but how many resources will a company put into new tech that would require new legislation from the EU before it can be implemented....?

In fairness the industry has put a low amount of effort into the category over the last few decades, hence needed stimulating to come away from the plentiful crap solutions that were in place so far. There’s a special place in hell for those inventors of the micro and mini usb stuff, for sure.