Euro rule change coming for laptops too in 2026

Apple confirms iPhones will feature USB-C charging
[techxplore.com]

Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, said the company will comply with an European Union law requiring mobile devices all support USB-C charging.

The comments made during The Wall Street Journal's Tech Live event appear to confirm future iPhones will drop the company's proprietary Lightning connector for USB-C.

"Obviously we'll have to comply," Joswiak said when asked about the EU law. "We have no choice as we do around around the world to comply to local laws."

Apple introduced the Lightning connector in 2012 with the launch of the iPhone 5, replacing the classic 30-pin dock connector available on early models of the smartphone.

finally

So…my Flir IR camera will become a paperweight, just like my dozen or so 30-pin iPod accessories?
Or will an adapter be available?

I really didn't want to see the 'Phone go USB-C.

It a ridiculous call on the part of the EU, theater even.

The only adapter that would make me happy is a very short one that could live in the USB-C port, sticking just a bit out of a case.

But that's not going to happen.

Sure, I knew it was coming, but I'm disappointed nonetheless.

---

I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

Quote
S. Pupp
So…my Flir IR camera will become a paperweight, just like my dozen or so 30-pin iPod accessories?
Or will an adapter be available?

An adapter already exists for the gen 1 lightning Apple Pencil, although it seems to require the use of a USB-C to USB-C cable in addition to the adapter, which might not be the greatest solution for a Flir and other accessories.

It's rather annoying that the iPhone is the only product left still using lightning though... If they make the switch next year, that means my next iPhone will be USB-C and my wife's will still be lightning for another couple of years. Then I'll have to switch the car mounts to MagSafe.

Although, it's still possible for Apple to make a USB-C iPhone for Europe (and maybe the rest of the world) and a Lightning US-market iPhone, since they're already doing that with physical SIM+eSIM (rest of the world) vs eSIM only (US only).

I don't see what the problem is for future iPhones charge via USB-C. My 2020, 4th generation 12.9" iPad Pro has a USB-C port and I've had NO trouble with it.

I just wish that the "powers that be" would ACTUALLY standardize USB instead of the abortive mess that we currently have.

USB connectors all and forever after will suck for design or durability or both. The lightning connector is the superior design. That should have been the one cable to rule them all.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/27/2022 08:43AM by Acer.

Acer,

Nope. Lightning is proprietary, neither better nor worse than nearly any flavor of USB be it USB A, USB Mini, USB Micro or USB-C for actual physical connections and it maxes out at USB 2.0 speeds. To go along with what Testcase said, the powers that be need to choose one standard connection for USB and call it done. That we have so many different USB connectors is an issue.

When it comes to flavors of USB, I've got devices that use USB-A,B,C, Micro A, Micro B, Mini A, & Mini B connectors and devices that support USB 2.0, USB 3.0, USB 3.1 Gen 1, USB 3.1 Gen 2, speeds. I don't have any that support USB 3.2 and USB 4 speeds. Yet.

USB, which was supposed to be the "One connection to rule them all" is the one connection to rule them all but it's like a royal hierarch because of the different speeds and connectors. King/Queen, Prince/Princess, Duke/Duchess, Marquess/Marchioness, Earl/Countess, Viscount/Viscountess, Baron/Baroness. The end result is that USB has become a clusterfrag.

Robert

Now they need to put a USB-C charger in with the new iPhones because most people do not have one. My 2020 SE did not have one with it when I got it last year so the USB-C to Lightning cable is still in the box. I have a M1 MacBook Pro now so I guess I need to dig that cable out.

---

Grateful11

neither better nor worse than nearly any flavor of USB be it USB A, USB Mini, USB Micro or USB-C


Nope. Lightning cables/connectors are better than any flavor of USB-Whatever in that I can plug one in to any Lightning port first time every time, without looking, while sitting in the dark in a chair watching TV, or walking to or from the car, day or night, again without so much as a glance at the devices or cable/connector, all by feel.

This comes up a lot for me, so I'd have been very happy if Apple had/were to keep Lighting ports on all their devices and accessories.

It's not a hardship or even difficult to keep a L-cable or adapter handy.

Obviously, where data throughput is a concern, higher speed connector protocols as appropriate would be the better choice.

So I'm saddened to see Apple drop it from their kit.

---

I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

RAM,

If that is the case, then you should have no issue with USB-C. Although I can do what you describe with any USB connector - it's a non-issue to me - USB-C meets your standard easily.

Robert

USB-C connector is more fiddly and delicate compared to the slab that is lightning, IMHO. I'm not looking forward to dealing with it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/27/2022 04:39PM by Acer.

USB-C connector is more fiddly and delicate compared to the slab that is lightning, IMHO. I'm not looking forward to dealing with it.


This.

It was immediately and constantly apparent with every USB-C product I've owned, starting around the 2012 MB, and continuing with many other accessories.

USB-C's non-polarized connector is a plus over all the previous USB configuration, especially micro-USB.

Not having to check its orientation before attempting to plug it in puts it above those previous USB connectors for convenience, but it ends there.

It's still more fiddly than Lightning — annoyingly so, and to that end, it does not meet my standard.

I say this from experience, not supposition.

As yet, I've no opinion on the delicateness of the central contact, but never a worry for Lightning connections.

---

I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

RAM,

We'll have to agree to disagree. I have Lightning on my iPhone 14 Pro and all previous idevices except for my iPad Mini 6. The iPad mini 6 has USB-C. My previous iPad, a Mini 5, is now Little M's.

I charge these devices in a charging station setup of sorts in our kitchen, where I have a set of cables for charging iPads, iPhones (when not charging them wirelessly), Airpods Pro (when not charging them wirelessly) and various devices that require USB micro and USB-C. At least I was able to drop USB-Mini since none of the devices I use regularly have it these days. Connecting the devices with USB-C is neither better nor worse than Lightning. In my experience, they both just work. That's good enough for me.

I used to have dedicated cables for particular connectors when it was just USB-Mini and Lightning. This became an issue and I swapped them out for 3-in-1 cables and adapters because the lack of a single connector standard caused the situation to become a mess. Key, though, is that more and more of the devices are using USB-C. It'll be nice to have a single type of connector for all of them. That connector is sure to be USB-C.

Robert

Like it or not USB-C is the standard...for now.

I'm still using Firewire 800 to back up my old MacBook Pro.

Only $55 still gets you a bus-powered external case for 2.5" drives w/ both FW800 & USB 3.0:

[eshop.macsales.com]

We'll have to agree to disagree.

Well, I think it was pretty clear, particularly in my previous post, that we only disagree on works for me, in my environment.



Like it or not USB-C is the standard...for now.


As I've alluded in another post, I acknowledge our USB-C Overlords, even though I don't completely welcome them.

We'll see what the future brings when the EU Overlords decide on something else.

I still have a half-dozen USB3/FW400/800 boxes whose contents haven't been consolidated to more recent/less archaic tech, but the boxes still work fine.

That they're aluminum is a big plus, but I don't know the largest size drive they'll support.

One bordered with my AEBS as a small NAS, and I'll replace it with an SSD and newer box.

---

I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.