By the fall of 2024, the EU already decided that all new portable electronics must utilize a USB Type-C charger. A precise date has been specified for the obligation as a result of the law’s entry into the EU’s Official Journal. After that date, manufacturers like Apple won’t be able to sell new products in the EU unless they utilize a universal cable. Apple’s iPhones use a charger developed by Apple.
Apple is the biggest manufacturer to use a customised charging port which is exclusive to some of its products. Its iPhone series uses its own Lightning connector, for example.
Greg Joswiak, Apple senior vice president of worldwide marketing, previously told the Wall Street Journal the tech giant would “obviously” comply with the law.
The new rule will cover a range of “small and medium-sized portable electronics”, according to the EU, such as phones, tablets, headphones, and handheld game consoles.
The deadline set by the EU has created a further Brexit tension point, as the EU regulation may also apply to Northern Ireland, according to both EU and UK officials.
According to a December 2021 parliamentary report, the “new requirements may also apply to devices sold in Northern Ireland under the terms of the Northern Ireland protocol in the Brexit agreement, potentially triggering divergence of product standards with the rest of the UK”.
The treaty works by keeping Northern Ireland inside the EU’s single market for goods, while the rest of the UK is outside it.
A row between the UK and EU about how to reform the Northern Ireland protocol remains unresolved.
In June, the UK government told the BBC it was not “currently considering” replicating the EU requirement regarding the adoption of a universal charging cable for mobile phones and other portable electronic devices.
The BBC has approached the government and Apple for comment.
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