Apple is rolling out iOS 16.0.3 update | USB-C for iphones by 2024
Oct 07, 2022| Apple is rolling out iOS 16.0.3 update | USB-C for iphones by 2024
The European Parliament today voted overwhelmingly (602 in favour, 13 against and eight abstentions) in favour of making USB-C mandatory as a universal charging port for a wide range of consumer electronic devices, including iphones and AirPods, by the end of 2024.
Specifically, regulations require all devices such as phones, tablets and cameras sold in the EU, including Apple's, to have USB Type-C charging ports by the end of 2024, with an extension to laptops from spring 2026. Meps claim the move will reduce e-waste, address the sustainability of products and make it easier to use different devices.
Some devices that are too small to offer USB-C, such as smartwatches, fitness trackers and some exercise devices, are currently exempt.
The rule isn't aimed at Apple, but it's widely seen as having the biggest impact because it still uses Lightning instead of USB-C on several of its devices. Usb-c is already widely used by most other consumer electronics manufacturers.
Apple still uses Lightning devices:
The iPhone all series
Entry-level device
AirPods charging box
Accessories: MagSafe battery, Magic Keyboard, Magic Trackpad, Magic Mouse, EarPods and Beats products;
New versions of these products will have to use USB-C ports to comply with the regulation if they are to remain available in the EU in 2025 or beyond.
Apple introduced the Lightning port when it released the iPhone 5 in 2012 to improve durability and ease of use compared to the 30-pin connector used in older iphones. At the time Apple executive Phil Schiller called the Lightning connector "the modern connector of the next decade."
Now analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman both say Apple is testing USB-C-powered iphones Kuo believes that Apple could switch iphones to USB-C starting with the iPhone 15 in 2023, before transitioning to AirPods and other accessories, a timing that would allow Apple to switch many of the affected devices to USB before the EU directive takes effect
IOS 16.0.3
