The EU legislation to mandate a common smartphone charger is now a done deal. After it looked like it would pass back in June, the Council of Ministers ratified the vote in October. Today the law has been officially signed and published with a December 2024 deadline for all new smartphones sold in Europe to use USB-C.
We’ve known for some time that it would likely be 2024 before smartphone makers would be forced to use USB-C as the common port in the EU.
However, today the law was officially recorded and will go into effect on December 27, 2022, and companies will have until December 28, 2024, to comply with the mandate (via The Verge).
The goal of the law is to reduce electronic waste as many consumers throw away chargers and cables when they upgrade their phones.
USB-C iPhone
Apple is actually expected to launch its first iPhone with USB-C ahead of the 2024 deadline, in fall 2023. We’ve heard that the iPhone 15 could be the device to make the change from both Ming-Chi Kuo and Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
But one thing the EU law could force Apple to move faster on is bringing USB-C to all of its new iPhones, not just the higher-end models.
However, with Apple launching its new devices in September and the law not going into enforcement until December 2024, that could potentially give the company until 2025 to make the switch.
Apple is reported to still be working on a fully wireless iPhone. But that may be 2024 or later before that arrives. Check out more details in our full guide:
The law also applies to tablets, but Apple this year made the switch to USB-C with the iPad 10, and the iPad mini, Air, and Pro already use the connector.
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