The European parliament voted to introduce a single charging port for all mobile phones by 2024 in a move that presents difficulties for Apple, whose iPhones use a different power connector.
The vote confirms a previous agreement among European institutions and will make USB-C connectors used by Android based devices the EU standard, forcing Apple to change its charging port for its devices.
Without a doubt Apple is expected to be among the most affected, but analysts also expect a possible positive impact because it could encourage shoppers to buy the company’s latest gadgets instead of ones without USB-C.
The deal also covers e-readers, earbuds and other technologies, meaning it may also have an impact on some of Samsung and Huawei products.
“This is a victory for common sense. Although Apple has a huge installed base of lightning cable-powered devices, the ubiquity of USB-C across all consumer electronics products means that harmonising on USB-C makes perfect sense.”
“Irrespective of whether the UK government mandates the move to USB-C or not, UK consumers will get the technology by default. It will make no sense for consumer electronics manufacturers to offer devices with anything else,”
Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight
EU lawmakers supported the reform with a large majority, with 602 votes in favour and only 13 against.
The change had been discussed for years and was prompted by complaints from iPhone and Android users about having to switch to different chargers for their devices.
The European Commission has estimated that the single charger would save about €250m (£218m) for consumers and Bloomberg reported in May that Apple is working on an iPhone with a USB-C charging port that could debut next year in 2023.
