On Tuesday, in a Wall Street Journal conference, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing — Greg Joswiak – confirmed that the company would be “obviously” required to comply with the new common charger mandate (via CNBC). Joswiak, however, did not say how soon Apple intends to switch to USB-C — especially considering that the company still has ample time (autumn 2024) to comply with EU’s directives.
Interestingly, Apple analysts have previously noted that Apple could make the switch to USB-C much quicker than anticipated — with some indicating that this could happen as early as September 2023, when Apple is expected to release the iPhone 15 lineup. Apple has been rumored to be internally planning for the switch well in advance. International variants of the iPhone will also likely switch to USB-C as it would be financially unviable for Apple to make iPhones with different connectivity standards. In the long run, however, Apple is likely to develop a completely portless iPhone that only charges wirelessly — letting the company entirely bypass the EU mandate.
While pressing ahead with the regulation, the EU argued that the use of a common charging standard came with inherent benefits. Apart from reducing the e-waste problem, this would also make lives easier for consumers owning multiple electronic items, as they would no longer need to worry about carrying different chargers. However, even as it prepares for the switch, Apple continues to maintain that the EU’s decision favoring USB-C would stifle innovation and exacerbate the e-waste problem.
