Apple says it will comply with EU USB-C charging law: iPhone will say goodbye to Lightning interface

Apple is finally saying goodbye to the 12-year-old "ancestral" Lightning interface.

Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of global marketing, said that Apple will "have to comply" with the European Union's regulations on uniform charging ports for electronic devices, according to the latest reports.

It is reported that the European Council has officially approved the new proposal two days ago: from 2024, all electronic devices such as mobile phones, tablets, and digital cameras sold in the EU must use the Type-C charging interface, and laptops use the same charging interface. A 40-month grace period is allowed.

This also means that Apple needs to use the Type-C interface in the iPhone 15 system in September next year, otherwise it will not be able to be sold in the EU in 2024.

Apple has previously strongly opposed the proposal, saying that forcing the use of the Type-C interface would stifle innovation, harm consumers, and generate more e-waste because more accessories from the Lightning ecosystem would be unavailable.

But Apple is obviously just to protect its own interests, because any accessory product in the Lightning ecosystem needs to pass the MFi certification, which can bring tens of billions of revenue to Apple every year.

At present, except for the iPhone, almost all other digital products are turning to the Type-C interface, including Android mobile phones, notebook computers, digital cameras and so on. Based on the Type-C interface, it can implement protocols that support ultra-high specifications and meet the needs of any manufacturer for fast charging and data transmission.