There’s good news (I guess) for tech procurement departments and frequent travelers: Apple now says it will eventually standardize USB-C charging cables because it has no choice. This happened after the decision of the European Union (EU) to create a mandatory charging standard for small electronic devices.
“We don’t have a choice,” says Apple’s vice president
Speaking at St WSJ Tech Conference Live, – Apple’s senior vice president for global marketing, Greg Joswiak, explained Apple’s position. Its opening follows a recent EU decision require all manufacturers to use USB-C to charge small electronic devices such as the iPhone by the end of 2024.
“We don’t have a choice — like all over the world, (we) will follow local laws,” he said.
However, it won’t necessarily be soon, and Joswiak refused to commit to any time frame. He recognized the EU’s 2024 time frame.
To be fair, Apple seems to have already started moving toward USB-C adoption. iPads, Macs—even the recently introduced AirPods Pro 2—all use the interconnect. Despite the public failure of the AirPower attempt, Apple is also clearly exploring how to do wireless charging an effective tool for power.
Why Apple thought otherwise
While Joswiak acknowledged that the EU has good intentions with its mandate, he explained that Apple continues to view the decision, no matter how good it was, as a threat to future innovation.
Apple believes that detachable cables from the power supply mainly solve the standardization problem, since users can connect any kind of cable to them. This almost makes sense in situations where the bricks provide support for multiple interconnects, but the truth is that most don’t offer it.
Recycled and unused chargers are approx 11,000 tons of e-waste annually, according to the EU. Joswiak also noted that in trying to reduce e-waste with the USB-C transition, the EU may have ended up increasing it.
He noted that more than a billion iPhone chargers with Lightning connections have been sold so far, and now all those cables are expected to end up in e-waste drains. Apple made the same argument in 2021 when he told Reuters this move will increase waste and may also stifle innovation. “Over a billion people already have Lightning,” Joswiak said.
Why Europe thought differently
This may be true. But when it made its decision, the EU noted that in 2019, more than 50% of chargers sold with mobile phones in 2018 had USB-B connectors, 29% had USB-C and 21% had a Lightning connector.
To justify his decision regarding innovation and government mandates, Joswiak discussed the rules regarding hearing aid compatibility in smartphones. “For years, mobile phones had to meet hearing aid compatibility specifications that were strictly described by regulations that had to be followed,” he said. “The problem is that it didn’t work. So we came up with a new approach that is now the industry standard and it worked. We responded to the state’s need.”
Apple could well argue that another, and perhaps more significant, way it’s trying to take tangible steps to protect the environment is through its recently announced decision to support the deployment of large-scale solar and wind projects across Europe.
The company participates in the implementation of projects with a capacity of 30 to 300 megawatts per facility. This reflects a company-wide effort to become carbon neutral across the entire global supply chain, as well as throughout the life cycle of each individual product, presumably including chargers.
One more thing
Wall Street Journal interviewer Joanna Stern asked whether innovation in smartphones has stopped. “Some people say that phones have become boring,” she said. “Wow,” said Joswiak. “I think these are other people’s phones. And I agree with that – ours are very exciting.” It seems that Apple growing market share during a general industry decline perhaps making his final claim.
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