The Lightning connector is ubiquitous to Apple products. And particularly the iPhone, since the iPad Pros already use USB-C. But the European Commission is expected to present new legislation to force the brand to adopt the universal standard.
The legislation in question does not specifically target Apple, but instead aims to establish a common charging connector standard. But despite this, the new law will naturally affect Apple and its iPhones more than any other device. After all, it’s still the only one that’s stubbornly holding on to the proprietary standard.
For its part, Apple said that the push for a common charger will “hurt innovation”, and “create a mountain of electronic waste” if consumers were forced to switch to new chargers. This kind of ties in with the company’s decision to not bundle chargers with newer iPhones. But according to a previous report by MacRumors, the new legislation serves just that purpose of reducing electronic waste.
As the EU gets one more step closer to having a universal charging standard, so does the rest of the world. As it’s a large market in and of itself, it’s more than likely that Apple will not decide to retain the Lightning cable in the rest of the world, and use USB-C only in the EU. Which can only be good news, as it will finally be possible to use a single cable to charge all your device.
(Source: Reuters via Yahoo Finance, MacRumors [1], [2])
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