For years, the European Union has been in a back and forth debate over making the USB Type-C a standard. This might not mean so much to most smartphone manufacturing companies, but it means everything to Apple. The European Union recently reached an agreement to make Type-C the standard for electronics. This agreement by the EU will go into effect in 2023.

Over the years, Apple has maintained a unique connectivity option compared to other smartphone manufacturers. It is the only company that uses iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and the lightning port. This uniqueness creates a problem for the European Union, not regarding the operating system but the charger type. But why does the EU have interest in the kind of chargers devices use?

The reason for this mandate revolves around sustainability and the reduction of the amount of e-waste in the environment. The EU’s vision is for people to be able to rely on just one charging cord to power their devices. Take core Apple users as a case study, the iPhone uses a lightning cable, the iPad uses a USB Type-C cable, and the most recent MacBook Air uses a MagSafe cable. This brings the total number of cables an Apple user needs to three or maybe more.

When this mandate is fully in place, users of electronic gadgets across Europe will only “need” one charging cable to power their devices. In effect, leading to a reduction in the amount of charging cables that end up in the waste bin (e-waste). One might write this off by saying, “it’d only affect people in Europe,” but don’t be too confident.

The coming iPhone 14 series will certainly use the lightning cable, but that might not be the case for future iPhones. According to Apple tipster Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple might be making a total switch to USB Type-C cables as early as 2023. This means that the iPhone 15 or 16 series will launch with a Type-C port. Yet another report claims that Apple will avoid the Type-C port and go wireless. This claim seems vague, judging from the fact that at this moment, wireless charging doesn’t fit everyone’s “charging conditions.”

We are eager to see how this lightning versus Type-C situation will play out in the coming months. In the meantime, it is important for Apple users to prep themselves for a future of sharing their cables with Android users. 

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