Greg Joswiak: Apple Will Have to Comply With the EU and Switch iPhone to USB-C

[Colpeas]

Note that the never directly confirmed that iPhone 15 will have USB-C, only that they will comply. That said, I am still pretty confident that iPhone 15 won't have any charging connector at all and that it will only use magsafe for charging. Just to f*** with the EU. If Apple Watch can get away with the charging pad, so can iPhone.

 

[jlc1978]

I have negative desire to buy a slow MagSafe cable that I’ll never use for only iPhone and AirPods. I have much desire to carry one USB-C power adapter and one USB-C cable when traveling.

You know — one cable to charge my Switch, Mac, battery packs, iPhone AirPods, etc. I’m tired of packing cable spaghetti.

I get it. I currently have over a half dozen cables in my go bag. If all you need to do is charge, the EU regs will assure you can at least do that at a basic level. Beyond that, there is no requirement for interoperablity.

The same way any other standard gets updated, either a govt or industry working group submits and codifies the next standard and proposes it for adoption… I keep seeing this comment like plug standards are somehow completely alien to people even though you use standardized plugs for a variety of devices every day…

Having been on a standards committee, what comes out is often a lowest common denominator with lots of exceptions resulting in a proliferation of different implementations.

Also, since you love the Earf 🌎 so much, offer a recycling program?

They do.

Well, yes, because, overnight, they went religiously USB-C only on full sized laptops that had plenty of space for a mixture of connectors back in 2016 when USB-C devices were like hens' teeth. It wasn't just that you needed USB-A adapters or new cables, it was that you lost half of your high-speed I/O and external display capability as soon as you plugged in a charger.

And on USB-C iPhones you lose all the Lightening connectors that do the same.

It won‘t surprise me if Apple gives the EU the USB-C model while keeping others lighting. They did that very thing with the iPhone 14 physical SIM card. While the majority of the world‘s iPhone 14 still has the physical sim… the US model doesn't. Apple seems fine splitting designs where regulated.

I think SIM cards are a bit different - the decision probably was based on the lack of eSim support in large markets, whereas a connector only requires including a new cable to work anywhere. No need to create two supply chains, estimate demand and create separate production lines.

 

[jlc1978]

Note that the never directly confirmed that iPhone 15 will have USB-C, only that they will comply. That said, I am still pretty confident that iPhone 15 won't have any charging connector at all and that it will only use magsafe for charging. Just to f*** with the EU. If Apple Watch can get away with the charging pad, so can iPhone.

I think the watch is a bit different - very limited space and most people won't need it overnight, so putting it on a charger and getting a days use is a viable approach. Phones sometimes need charging during teh day or when in constant use, such as navigation, and a cord makes that easier.

 

[PrecisionGem]

You would think that with a war going on right next door, the threat of nukes, and people not able to heat their homes, what connector Apple uses wouldn't be the biggest fish to fry for the EU.

 

[TigerNike23]

Does anyone here actually think Apple will provide a USB-C cable in the box?

I say no. You just get the phone, that’s it.

 

[Reason077]

Does anyone here actually think Apple will provide a USB-C cable in the box?

I say no. You just get the phone, that’s it.

I bet one day there won't even be a phone in the box.

You just get the box, that's it.

 

[james2538]

What did they find out was possible with USB-C that was not possible with lightning with the correct dongle or cable?

Lightning did the same thing as USB-C currently does, but a whole lot more than micro USB while being a smaller form factor and more robust (at the time).

IMHO Ecosystem is why they haven't done it till now - anyone that has bought a third party lighting specific iDevice would be really pissed at Apple if they didn't get at least a couple of years out of it.

"Possible" is in reference to non-techy people not knowing it was possible for Apple Devices to use non-proprietary cables like USB-C (if Apple wasn't so stubborn)

 

[Reason077]

You would think that with a war going on right next door, the threat of nukes, and people not able to heat their homes, what connector Apple uses wouldn't be the biggest fish to fry for the EU.

We don't want soldiers dying on the battlefield because their phone battery is dead, because they have the misfortune of using a phone with an obsolete proprietary connector instead of the much more common, standard USB-C connector. This is why standardization is so important! Supporting Lightning is tantamount to supporting Putin.

 

[Sandovalg2]

"We'll have to comply"? It always amazes me the way that Apple thinks about its customers. They truly think we are stupid. Apple was already planning to do this but on their own time frame. They are using the EU regulation to pretend that they now HAVE to do it, and that the troubles their users are going to have to go through is not their fault but the fault of those "horrible Europeans".

 

[PositBGH]

Apple's vice president of worldwide marketing, Greg Joswiak, today said that Apple will have to move to USB-C on iPhone and its remaining devices that still have a Lightning connector in order to comply with new EU rules.

Speaking at the Wall Street Journal's Tech Live event, Joswiak said that Apple ultimately respects the decision made by the EU to mandate a common charger across consumer electronic devices. "We'll have to comply," Joswiak said, indirectly confirming Apple will move to USB-C in the future.

USB-C will have to be the common port across a wide range of consumer electronic devices, including the iPhone and AirPods, by the end of 2024, according to the rules put forward by the EU. Apple is reportedly testing iPhone 15 models with a USB-C port.

Article Link: Greg Joswiak: Apple Will Have to Comply With the EU and Switch iPhone to USB-C

The free market should make these decisions, not governments!

 

[Reason077]

The free market should make these decisions, not governments!

In a perfect world, you're correct. But the free market has failed here for the past 8 years - the EU was forced to act.

 

[sorgo †]

Note that the never directly confirmed that iPhone 15 will have USB-C, only that they will comply. That said, I am still pretty confident that iPhone 15 won't have any charging connector at all and that it will only use magsafe for charging. Just to f*** with the EU. If Apple Watch can get away with the charging pad, so can iPhone.

As much as I kind of love the revenge fantasy (and Lightning itself), I'm quite certain the 15 series will get USB-C. When they announced it in 2012, Apple said Lightning would be "a modern connector for the next decade," and as of September 2022 that decade was technically up. There will have been precisely 10 generations between iPhone 5 and iPhone 15, so it makes sense, but Apple can be both stubborn and unpredictable so we'll see.

 

[ultramaxpromini]

Apple's vice president of worldwide marketing, Greg Joswiak, today said that Apple will have to move to USB-C on iPhone and its remaining devices that still have a Lightning connector in order to comply with new EU rules.

Speaking at the Wall Street Journal's Tech Live event, Joswiak said that Apple ultimately respects the decision made by the EU to mandate a common charger across consumer electronic devices. "We'll have to comply," Joswiak said, indirectly confirming Apple will move to USB-C in the future.

USB-C will have to be the common port across a wide range of consumer electronic devices, including the iPhone and AirPods, by the end of 2024, according to the rules put forward by the EU. Apple is reportedly testing iPhone 15 models with a USB-C port.

Article Link: Greg Joswiak: Apple Will Have to Comply With the EU and Switch iPhone to USB-C

 

[RolandGo]

Next the EU will mandate that no devices run on 110 V. Government should stay out of private business.

The EU doesn't have to. No European country uses that wimpy 110 V.

You would think that with a war going on right next door, the threat of nukes, and people not able to heat their homes, what connector Apple uses wouldn't be the biggest fish to fry for the EU.

The EU can walk and chew gum simultaneously. Imagine that.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

You would think that with a war going on right next door, the threat of nukes, and people not able to heat their homes, what connector Apple uses wouldn't be the biggest fish to fry for the EU.

It's not the biggest fish. It may surprise some people, but governments can do many things, even hundreds of things, all at the same time.

 

[ultramaxpromini]

What if USB-D or E come out? The EU will require 5 years then to change the regulation again. Whist I think the switch to USB-C is overdue, I think it is a terrible idea to make a single standard a static piece of a regulation.

 

[Analog Kid]

NO! The stipulation leaves a lot of room for connectors of the future. so this is a nonsense argument. and it doesn't limit innovation at all.

Which “stipulation”? If you’re referring to some throw away line somewhere about updating the requirements when the world reaches consensus on the next great idea, it would have been put in so people can point to it and say “see the law is forward thinking!”. Consensus limits innovation. We’ll be innovating at the speed of bureaucracy for the next decade or two.

 

[H2SO4]

I've never heard of this happening with other connectors, are those not waste? What about printer cables? What about USB 3.0 cables? They are all different and no one cares.

I don't think this is a matter of waste, this seems very targeted, and if they take action about something it should be about everything, not about the company that has money to take advantage of.

The point is, if millions of cables don't need to be produced, (ie one put in every box because you likely already have one that fits), do you not think that might be a way to curb significant amounts of waste going forward?
That's not just waste of the actual cables, connectors, and adaptors but also the packaging they come in and fuel to make them.

 

[partrophus]

I wonder how it will be limited? USB-C ports don’t have to supply all the features. I learned that the hard way as a technician a few years ago. It’ll for sure have data and power but I’m wondering about video. I will gladly buy the high end devices if I can turn this into an everything device.

 

[Reason077]

I wonder how it will be limited? USB-C ports don’t have to supply all the features. I learned that the hard way as a technician a few years ago. It’ll for sure have data and power but I’m wondering about video. I will gladly buy the high end devices if I can turn this into an everything device.

Can’t imagine that they would limit video. Every Android device supports those cheap HDMI dongles, just like every iPhone supports those almost-as-cheap Lightning HMDI dongles.

A big advantage is that you could now use the same HDMI adapter on your Mac, iPad, and iPhone!

Likewise, storage devices already work over Lightning, so can’t imagine that they would block them for USB-C.

 

[jlc1978]

Can’t imagine that they would limit video. Every Android device supports those cheap HDMI dongles, just like every iPhone supports those almost-as-cheap Lightning HMDI dongles.

A big advantage is that you could now use the same HDMI adapter on your Mac, iPad, and iPhone!

Not necessarily as the actual pinouts and implementation could be different. Nothing in the EU rule prevents that; by Apple or anyone else.

Likewise, storage devices already work over Lightning, so can’t imagine that they would block them for USB-C.

I doubt it as well, but the question is how is it implemented?

 

[AppliedMicro]

it will only use magsafe for charging. Just to f*** with the EU.

No. Apple isn’t in the business of just f***ing with the EU.
They’re in the business of proprietary charging cables and MFI accessories.

If Apple Watch can get away with the charging pad, so can iPhone.

If the EU can get away with establishing ecodesign requirements on energy consumption for 31 product groups, surely they can get away with adding a 32nd: mobile phones.

And amending Commission Regulation (EU) No 617/2013 to include mobile phones, and its Annex II to require such devices to be chargeable with a defined minimum power efficiency (as measured from the power outlet or adapter).

In a nutshell: „Mobile phones must be chargeable with at least x% power efficiency - otherwise their distribution in the EU is prohibited“.

 

[x-evil-x]

Is this planned for 2023?

 

[seek3r]

Having been on a standards committee, what comes out is often a lowest common denominator with lots of exceptions resulting in a proliferation of different implementations.

As opposed to lightning, with USB 2.0 speeds in 2022?

 

[Bustycat]

Too bad the world didn’t adapt the smaller Apple design. Gives them more internal room for bigger processors, cameras, etc. That’s a competitive edge design that Apple should have shared.

If you can compare a Lightning connector with a USB-C connector side by side, you will find that USB-C is just slightly larger.