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An Apple official said Tuesday night that the iPhone will support USB-C charging in the European Union to comply with a new regulation that requires electronic gadgets to have an uniform charging standard.
Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of global marketing, made the first formal company statements since the decision was announced on Monday at the Wall Street Journal’s Tech Live conference. He stated, “Obviously we will have to comply.”
“We have no choice but to comply with local rules, as we do everywhere in the globe, but we believe a less prescriptive approach would have been better for the environment and for our customers,” he said.
On Monday, member states of the EU agreed to pass legislation requiring USB-C charging for smartphones, tablets, digital cameras, portable speakers, and other small gadgets by 2024. The first-of-its-kind rule seeks to reduce the amount of cords and chargers that consumers must deal with when they buy a new item and to permit users to mix and match devices and chargers even if they were made by different manufacturers.
The European governments are “well-intentioned,” and I can see that they desire to do good.
The regulation effectively requires Apple (AAPL) to stop using the exclusive Lightning charger for its devices sold in the EU, and if Apple (AAPL) decides to standardize its products globally, it might also apply to items sold in other regions.
“It is a fantastic connector, and he is connected over a billion individuals already. They have the necessary cables, equipment, and speakers in their houses, and there is an ecosystem that works with it.
He said, “I do not mind explaining to us what the administration is trying to do.