Apple’s conversion to USB-C a ‘great victory’ for consumers and Alex Agius Saliba

Apple will unveil its latest iPhone this week and it will most certainly feature a USB-C charge point in what is a victory for EU lawmakers.

The changes are anticipated in the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro to be unveiled on 12 September at Apple’s annual autumn event.

The new handsets are likely to ditch the proprietary Lightning adaptor and conform to EU law requiring manufacturers to adopt a common charging connection.

Phone manufacturers have until December 2024 to convert to USB-C charging connections in what the EU believes will save consumers money and cut waste.

Apple’s anticipated conversion to USB-C represents a sweet victory of sorts for Labour MEP Alex Agius Saliba, who was the European Parliament’s rapporteur on the subject.

If Apple wants to target EU consumers and benefit from the single market it has to abide by the new standard, he told MaltaToday.

“This is definitely a great victory for consumers who will now be able to use one common charger for a good number of portable electronic products that they use on a daily basis,” he said.

He said the new EU rule will be financially and environmentally more beneficial for consumers and the environment, describing it as a “win-win situation”.

“Consumers will spend less money on proprietary expensive chargers that are only compatible with a limited number of devices. But the new rule will also benefit our environment since from next year we will be producing 14,000 tonnes less of useless chargers for smartphones alone,” the Maltese MEP said.

Apple’s latest iPads already use USB-C but the company had opposed the EU rule, arguing that mandating just one type of connector stifles innovation.

It remains unclear Apple’s conversion to USB-C will be a global change to the product, or be specific to phone sets sold in the EU. However, the tech giant is unlikely to make a different version of the handset for the European market alone.

The switch will enable customers to benefit from faster download speeds and use a single charger for iPads, Macs and iPhones.

The EU common-charger rule covers a range of small and medium-sized portable electronics, including mobile phones, tablets, e-readers, mice, keyboards, headphones, digital cameras and other electronic devices.

Any of these charged using a cable will have to have a USB Type-C port, regardless of who makes the devices.

Laptops will also have to abide by the rules but manufacturers have longer to make the changes.