The European Parliament has reached an agreement on proposed legislation that will force all future smartphones, including Apple's iPhone, to use a universal usb-c port for charging. In addition to mobile phones, the rules will also apply to other electronic devices, including tablets, digital cameras and e-readers. In addition to agreeing to use a universal charging port, an agreement has been reached to coordinate rapid charging standards.
The internal market and Consumer Protection Committee of the European Parliament announced the agreement on Twitter and officially announced the text of the agreement at a press conference later today.
The agreement will have the greatest impact on apple. Apple is the only major smartphone manufacturer that still uses proprietary ports instead of usb-c. in 2021, Apple sold 241million [iPhones] worldwide( https://apple.pvxt.net/c/1251234/435400/7639?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.apple.com%2Fcn%2Fiphone%2F ) Of which about 56million were sold in Europe.
These rules are intended to reduce e-waste in the EU by making chargers for electronic devices interoperable. In the future, legislators hope that mobile phones will not need to be equipped with chargers in every packaging box, because buyers usually have appropriate cables and wall chargers at home. The EU estimates that the amount of e-waste generated in the region of the economy in 2016 exceeded 12million metric tons.
The European Commission announced its current legislative plan last September, but efforts to force manufacturers to use a common charging standard go back more than a decade. In the following years, Android manufacturers have tended to use micro USB, and then evolved to usb-c as the general charging standard, while Apple has shifted from providing mobile phones with its proprietary 30 pin connector to lightning ports.
Apple fought back against the EU's attempt to force it to use usb-c on its mobile phones. A spokesman told Reuters last year: "we are still worried that strict regulations on only one type of connector will stifle innovation rather than encourage innovation, which in turn will harm consumers in Europe and around the world. It also believes that converting to usb-c will generate electronic waste rather than reduce it, because it will make its existing lightningaccessories Ecosystems become redundant. "
However, there are reports from within apple that the company may be preparing to change its iPhone to charge via usb-c. Bloomberg reported last month that the company was in-house testing the iPhone using usb-c, and apple analyst guomingpei claimed that it could be converted as early as next year. In addition to mobile phones, Apple has always been a loyal supporter of the usb-c standard, and has made great progress in its notebook computers and high-end ipad Used on.