Why can’t Apple just pick one (and that one be USB-C)?
Ask many techies what they want to see out of the next iPhone and you might not hear the answers you’d expect. Speed, cameras, battery life, all very great and very important. But they improve so marginally over each other year over year. What many of us really want to see is the end of the Lightning port. USB-C on the iPhone.
USB-C on the iPhone has so many benefits. You could streamline your cable collection. Nearly all your cables would be USB-C. It reduces e-waste, makes packing for a trip or just organizing your cables easier, and opens the iPhone up to entirely new possibilities. USB-C on the iPhone would mean it could use standard USB-C hubs for USB-A, SD cards, ethernet, HDMI, and more. The iPad series started adopting USB-C, and it allowed them to turn into real work devices with functionality typically reserved for computers.
The European Union advanced a proposal that would require all smartphone manufacturers ship their devices with USB-C built-in. No more dongles. Currently, the law requires companies ship their devices with dongles if they have a proprietary connector, so that a standard USB cable can power the device. The new law makes the requirement of a dongle illegal. Now all devices will need USB-C for charging and data transfer.
The EU may force Apple to ditch their awful proprietary connectors and cables once and for all.
USB-C Only!
The draft proposal out of the EU requires all devices to have a USB-C port, from mobile phones to game consoles. They claim this is to help stimulate free commerce and innovation. Consumers are less likely to leave the iPhone or other platforms if they know their cable collection will become useless. The other benefit, and perhaps the much more important one, is reduced waste. We wouldn’t need as many cables if we didn’t need so many different types. By making USB-C universal, the EU can drastically reduce e-waste.
If the EU passes the law, manufacturers will have two years to comply. After that, they could be fined for refusing to provide a USB-C port. Knowing this law could come down the pipeline, Apple, the largest offender, is likely already considering its options for redesigned iPhone ports.
Apple’s Options
There isn’t much Apple can do here. The proposal practically targets Apple directly. Other manufacturers have already moved on to USB-C, even in budget devices. The only company this proposal really affects is Apple. It’s hard to imagine that Apple would be able to fight this in any meaningful way when they’re the direct target.
Why should Apple fight it? Do they really make that much money selling overpriced proprietary cables? Maybe? Without the MFi program, which says items need to be approved by Apple to be “Made for iPhone,” Apple will certainly lose out on some licensing fees. There are many iPhone accessories made by third parties that require Apple’s licensing and therefore their fees. Apple would lose a source of revenue. They’d make a better product, but that doesn’t matter to Apple. People aren’t deciding not to buy the iPhone over Lightning cables. It’s an annoyance, but not a primary concern. While USB-C would make the iPhone a significantly better product, it’s not enough of a selling point for Apple to willingly ditch the Lightning connector.
Now they’ll have to.
While Apple may go kicking and screaming into the future, the proposal is universally good for consumers and the environment. Thanks to the difficulty of creating so many different versions of the same device, Apple would likely make USB-C the standard worldwide. If the EU can pass this proposal quickly, we could see USB-C on the iPhone 15 or perhaps even earlier. Though, technically, Apple could sit on this for two years after the resolution passes, waiting until the iPhone 16. I wonder what iPhones will look like by then? Or perhaps they’ll still be unimaginative rectangles.