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USB-C is officially coming to the iPhone

Apple wants you to know it isn’t happy about the decision, however.

apple logo with apple products blurred in the background
Image: KnowTechie

Apple has given its first public confirmation that the iPhone will get USB-C in the future.

The Wall Street Journal got the scoop from Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, Greg Joswiak. He was asked about the European Union mandate on USB-C as the common charging port.

His response didn’t sound like Apple was happy about the mandate: “Obviously, we’ll have to comply; we have no choice.”

That’s a little sulky from a company whose operating budget is larger than some countries GDP.

Apple confirms to the WSJ that USB-C is coming to the iPhone

The rest of Joswiak’s answer is worth watching. The gist of it is that Apple isn’t happy about being forced to do, well, anything.

He talked about how historically, Apple preferred to trust its engineers instead of being forced into compliance with mandated standards.

His exact words were, “we don’t mind governments telling us what they want to accomplish.” Joswiak obviously thinks highly of Apple, but is that surprising?

usb-c cables on purple background
Image: KnowTechie

Joswiak also mentions that the EU’s plans are well-intentioned but can be somewhat solved by power adapters with detachable cables. But that argument is a bit weak, as well.

Lightning still uses USB2.0 for data transfer, and it doesn’t fast charge, not anywhere near the levels of USB-PD.

Maybe if Apple updates Lightning to have faster charging and data rates, the EU would let them keep the port. But we can’t see that happening on either end.

Apple is the most prominent phone maker still to use a port other than USB-C on its phones. The iPad range finished transitioning to USB-C this fall, and the Mac range has used USB-C for years.

The other thing the EU mandate means for Apple is a shift to USB-C for the AirPods range. The mandate covers every consumer device large enough to fit a USB-C socket.

We expect Apple to comply with the EU mandate. For how long, though, we couldn’t say. Maybe Apple will go all-in on wireless, portless devices in the future.

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