A poorly kept secret has finally come out: the iPhone will adopt an Apple Usb-C port by 2024 to comply with new EU regulations. During an interview at the Wall Street Journal’s Tech Live event, Apple’s vice-president of global marketing, Greg Joswiak, said that Apple will respect “the advice” even if it is very disappointed by the EU’s move. “Obviously, we will have to comply with what they want,” Joswiak said, ‘we don’t have much choice.’

EU legislation requires that phones sold in Europe must have the standard connector by the end of 2024, and this will force Apple to change course on a couple of manufacturing issues that, of course, also impact business. The first: the company does not sell iPhones only in Europe (of course it does) and will therefore have to decide whether to keep open a dual production chain, which will see iPhones with Usb-C and others with Lightning, or unify it, switching to the continental standard in its entirety. Another question: what happens to the plethora of gadgets for iPhones with proprietary ports? Will wired earphones (yes, some still use them), portable chargers and so on disappear all at once?

Apple Usb-C Adapter

Hardly: more likely that Apple will put on sale a Lightning to Usb-C adapter, a bit like it did to allow, years and years ago, to still use headphones with the classic 3.5 input when it eliminated the ‘hole’ from iPhones. The question is: will these adapters work? It is not certain since Apple usually keeps its hardware-software system closed, certifying only certain accessories, thus rendering all others from third parties or which are outside its chain of validated partners useless. Therefore, it is a not inconsiderable step that will bring benefits in a few months’ time.

A Twitter leaker claims that the connectors of the new iPhone 14 will be Usb-C but also Thunderbolt 4, which will offer much better data transfer speeds than Lightning, in the order of gigabits instead of megabits, ideal for creative professionals shooting high-quality videos. Usb-C might upset the American giant’s plans, but it is clearly a good move for the rest of us: it means less cable clutter, hopefully also less electronic waste and better transfer speeds.