Apple’s vice president of worldwide marketing, Greg Joswiak, on Tuesday said that Apple will have to replace the Lightning port on its iPhone and other devices with a USB-C port to comply with new European Union rules.
Speaking at the Wall Street Journal‘s Tech Live event, Joswiak said that Apple will “have to comply” with the new rule, basically confirming the iPhone will switch to USB-C in the near future. Numerous reports have suggested Apple is testing USB-C on iPhone 15 models, scheduled for a fall 2023 release.
The European Union on Monday granted final approval to the legislation that will force Apple and other tech firms to switch to USB-C connectivity across their devices.
This means that starting in 2024, a USB-C port will become mandatory for a whole range of electronic devices such as mobile phones, tablets, and headphones.
The directive will heavily impact Apple, as it widely uses the Lightning connector instead of USB-C on many of its devices.
Apple products that currently feature a Lightning connector, that will have to adopt USB-C if newer models go on sale in 2025 or later to comply with the new law, include:
- iPhone
- AirPods Charging Case
- Accessories, including MagSafe Battery Pack, Magic Keyboard, Magic Trackpad, EarPods, and Beats products
Both Apple industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman say they believe Apple is testing a new version of the iPhone that boasts a USB-C port instead of the traditional Lightning port.
