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Apple to change iPhones over to USB-C charging to comply with EU law

Election 2022 Illinois Union Amendment
Posted at 9:42 AM, Oct 26, 2022
and last updated 2022-10-26 12:43:07-04

Apple is changing how consumers charge their iPhones following the recent passing of a European Union law.

Beginning with its new devices, Apple announced Tuesday it would switch over to USB-C chargers sometime by 2024, CNBC and Forbes reported.

“Obviously, we’ll have to comply,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, at The Wall Street Journal Tech Live conference, per CNBC and Forbes.

The news of the change was first announced earlier this month in a European Parliament press release.

Devices also affected by the new law include headphones, digital cameras, e-readers, mice, keyboards, and portable game consoles and speakers, the news release said.

For laptops, they'll have time to implement the change since the law doesn't go into effect for them until spring 2026, according to the news release.

Although they have to switch to abide by the new law, CNBC and Forbes pointed out that Apple hasn't been excited about the change.

According to the news outlets, Joswiak pointed out that over a billion people have devices that use Apple’s Lightning chargers.

“We think the approach would have been better environmentally and better for our customers to not have a government be that prescriptive,” Joswiak said per CNBC.