Apple confirms USB-C is coming to iPhone: 'We have no choice'

No matter the reason, the USB-C is finally coming to iPhones.
By Stan Schroeder  on 
iPhone Lightning port EU
This connector is about to change. We don't know when, though. Credit: NurPhoto / Getty Images

Apple will finally switch from Lightning to USB-C port on its iPhones.

The company did not officially announce anything, but its senior vice president of worldwide marketing all but confirmed it in an interview with The Wall Streeet Journal's Joanna Stern.

When asked whether Apple is moving to USB-C, Joswiak said "obviously we'll have to comply, we have no choice."

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Joswiak is referring to a new set of regulations in the European Union, as well as in Brazil, which mandate the use of USB-C on smartphones. Apple has long resisted the idea, but now that the EU will actually start enforcing the law starting in 2024, the company will have to make the change if it wants to keep selling iPhones in the EU.

For users, this will simply mean most of their gadgets, whether made by Apple or some other company, will charge with the same cable.

Apple isn't too happy about this. "We think the approach would've been better environmentally, and better for our customers, for the governments to not be that prescriptive," said Joswiak.

What Joswiak wouldn't say, however, is when the switch is going to happen, exactly. "The Europeans are dictating timing for European customers," he said.

Topics iPhone

Stan Schroeder
Stan Schroeder
Senior Editor

Stan is a Senior Editor at Mashable, where he has worked since 2007. He's got more battery-powered gadgets and band t-shirts than you. He writes about the next groundbreaking thing. Typically, this is a phone, a coin, or a car. His ultimate goal is to know something about everything.


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