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On October 4, the European Parliament almost unanimously passed a bill to standardize charging connectors in smartphones, tablets and cameras. According to him, all such devices will have to use USB-C for wired charging. This means that Apple will have to abandon Lightning.

Note that there is no talk about the entry into force of the new law yet. It must first be adopted by the Council of Europe and published in the Official Journal of the European Union. And only 20 days after that, he will begin to act.

The Verge journalists decided to calculate when Apple will have to part with a proprietary charging port. It turned out that the iPhone 15 and even the iPhone 16 would still technically be able to come out with Lightning, even if the law is passed right now. Manufacturers will have two years to prepare for the transition to USB-C – that is, until at least the end of October 2024. Considering that Apple traditionally holds presentations of new smartphones in September, and the law only applies to equipment that went on sale after it came into force, in 2024 the iPhone 16 may be one of the last gadgets with a connector other than USB-C.

As a result, the iPhone 17, which is expected to be released in 2025, will be the first Apple smartphone in which the manufacturer will have to use USB-C. It is possible that the transition will happen faster, but they will not become mandatory until the last quarter of 2024.

Well-known Apple analyst Ming-chi Kuo believes that Apple will not delay the transition from the outdated Lightning and will show the iPhone with USB-C as early as 2023. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman is more careful in his wording and writes that this will happen “not earlier than 2023”.

It is noted that Apple will have to transfer to USB-C not only smartphones. AirPods charging cases, keyboards, computer mice and other similar equipment will also switch to standard connectors. However, one cannot exclude the complete rejection of wired charging and the transition to MagSafe. But analysts agree: Apple is unlikely to leave the European market (and only in this region it will have to obey the new rules), as well as selling equipment with different connectors in different regions is unlikely.

As a result, we can definitely expect an iPhone 17 without Lightning, but we will also follow the rumors about the iPhone 15: perhaps Apple decides to call USB-C fast charging one of the main innovations of its next smartphone.