The European Union could put pressure on Apple with a vote of deputies and member states by the end of the year.
Apple seems, for years, to fight a battle alone against all in the use of its proprietary chargers. While the other manufacturers have all adopted micro-USB and then USB-C on their tablets and smartphones, the Cupertino company persists in only offering charging by means of a 30-pin cable and then the Lightning cable. . Despite a first step forward with iPads carrying a USB-C port, iPhones seem doomed to continue their existence with Lightning.
However, it is not fault on the part of the European authorities to have tried to impose the single charger. For nearly ten years, the European Union has been trying to pass a law requiring all manufacturers to adopt the same charger, in vain. This would not only make life easier for users, but also reduce electronic waste, with users having a single cable to charge all their electronic devices.
Despite a draft directive tabled at the end of 2021, Europe still and always comes up against fierce opposition from Apple, seeing this as a brake on innovation and a constraint for users who should buy a new charger. As a reminder, Apple is today the only smartphone manufacturer not to have adopted USB-C or micro-USB on its iPhones.
A vote at the end of the year
However, the European authorities seem not to have totally abandoned the idea of the universal charger. According to the British news agency Reuters , MEPs and EU Member States could reach an agreement on the file by the end of 2022.
It was Maltese MP Alex Agius Saliba who put the file back on the table. “An agreement by the end of the year is achievable. This is our ambition ,” he said. The dossier will be proposed to the European Parliament, which will then have to vote for the proposal in May.
However, the legislator has announced that he wants to go even further. While the initial proposal only concerned smartphones, tablets and headphones, the Maltese would like to extend the universal charger to e-readers, low-power laptops, keyboards, computer mice, headsets, connected watches and headphones. electronic toys.
Concretely, if the bill is passed, the obligation for manufacturers to switch to USB-C should take place by 2025. Manufacturers would then have six months to make the transition, at the risk of attracting the wrath of the EU. Obviously, Apple will not be able to slip through the cracks and will then have to adapt.