Apple confirmed that it will switch over to USB-C chargers for its new iPhone devices going forward at a Wall Street Journal event on Tuesday.
This is the first official acknowledgement from the company and comes just a day after the European Union voted to pass a law that will require USB-C chargers to become a standard across the coalition. The new law will come into force from January 1, 2024.
Speaking at the paper’s Tech Live Event, Apple’s worldwide marketing chief, Greg Joswiak said that the company would “obviously” comply with the EU ruling adding that the company had “no choice” in the matter.
He did however, acknowledge that the company wasn’t exactly happy about the fact that it was being forced into adopting USB-C chargers by the EU. Joswiak said that over a billion people across the world were already in possession of Apple products which used the Lightning chargers.
Joswiak went on to say that the Lightning chargers would never have been developed if the EU hadn’t insisted that Apple adopt the older Micro USB charging cables which weren’t very reliable, were of poor quality and had a limited ability to transfer large amounts of data quickly.
The marketing chief added that while the company was open to discussions with governments about adopting new standards, it should have been left up to Apple’s engineers to come up with a solution. Joswiak said that the company shouldn’t have been mandated to follow the rules.
The Michigan alumnus also said that the issue of separate chargers and separate devices were largely resolved because modern charging bricks come with detachable cables.
Earlier this week, EU member states approved the bloc’s common charging standard for portable devices. The rationale behind the introduction of the law is the streamline the number of chargers and cables consumers have to keep with every purchase of a new device. While the new law governs small electronics that will go to market by 2024, the rules will also extend to covering larger electronics like laptops by 2026
