The iPhone is ditching the Lightning connector for USB-C at last

Apple has confirmed it's bringing USB-C to the iPhone in compliance with new EU legislation

(Credit: Apple)

➡️ The Shortcut Skinny: Lightning no more

• 🍏 Apple has confirmed it will introduce a USB-C port to the iPhone

• 📜 The decision comes after the European Union introduced new legislation to standardize charging ports

• 🌍 It’s not yet clear whether the USB iPhones will be sold outside of Europe

• ⌛ We’re still waiting on a release timeline

Apple will add a USB-C charging port to the iPhone following a change in European Union law.

Apple’s head of marketing, Greg Joswiak, confirmed the tech giant will comply with the new EU ruling, which mandates all phones, tablets, headphones and other devices sold in EU countries use a standard USB-C charging port.

“Obviously we’ll have to comply,” Joswiak said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, “we have no choice.”

He didn’t reveal exactly when we can expect to see an iPhone sporting a USB-C port, saying “the Europeans are the ones dictating timing for European customers”. The new law says all devices will have to adopt the port by Fall 2024, so we could be waiting a few years yet. With the iPhone 14 release date already passed, Apple will likely be looking to change the port on its future flagship models.

But it isn’t clear whether Apple would make the change to all iPhones sold across the world, or just to those up for sale inside EU markets. Currently, neither the UK nor the US looks likely to follow the EU’s decision, and even if they did, it could be a while yet before any legislation materializes. The EU has spent the last 10 years considering the ruling.

The new law is intended to standardize charging ports across the tech industry, thereby cutting down on waste and saving consumers from having to buy multiple single-use cables. Joswiak disagreed, saying "the approach would've been better environmentally and better for our customers to not have a government be that prescriptive".

While most modern phones already use USB-C, the iPhone still uses Apple’s proprietary Lightning port. The USB-C port has been adopted for other Apple products, though, including the new iPad.