Apple Could Be Forced To Ditch Lightning Port Due To Potential New EU Law
Image via DenPhotos / Shutterstock.com
The Lightning port has been an Apple-exclusive affair ever since it hit the market in 2012, but we could be saying goodbye to it in a rather abrupt, law-enforced, breakup.
In a report to Reuters, a source has explained that the European Union (EU) is planning to introduce a legislation that could enforce a charging standard across all smartphones.
This comes in a bid to reduce consumer confusion as well as waste, and lawmakers at last year’s European Parliament voted largely in favor of doing so. While this hasn’t been officially confirmed yet, the source details that the legislation is currently being drafted and can be expected sometime in September 2021.
However, because the iPhone 13 is already so close that we can taste it, it’s unlikely to affect this upcoming product. In the time between the announcement of the legislation and it coming to effect, Apple might even be able to squeeze out a couple more devices with Lightning.
Apple’s introduction of Lightning to USB-C cables for current products also indicates that the company has the potential to widely incorporate it at short notice.
It won’t come without a fight, though; it was reported that Apple pushed back against an attempt to pass a similar EU call for a universal charger. It claimed that a law would hamper innovation as well as create even more electronic waste as users scramble to switch chargers.
If this new legislation does pass, Apple has no choice if it wants to keep selling its products in Europe. It’s not set in stone that USB-C will be the standard choice, but it’s an already pretty standard universal charging choice.
This all assumes that charging cables won’t already be a thing of the past, though. With wireless charging increasing in popularity, there might be a chance that the legislation has little effect on a futuristic, wireless world.
[via TechRadar, image via DenPhotos / Shutterstock.com]
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