The exact date has finally been revealed for new phones sold in the European Union, including future iPhones, to be required to use USB-C for wired charging. Accordingly, Apple has to prepare itself for December 28, 2024.
The EU’s new USB-C legislation has become officially binding, published in the bloc’s official journal. We now know that the rules will come into effect officially in 20 days and EU member states will have a maximum of 24 months to implement them as national law.
The set date seems to be in line with politicians’ previous estimates, but until now the exact date has not been determined due to the number of stages each piece of EU legislation has to go through. When members first agreed on the legislation in June, they announced that the law would apply “in the fall of 2024,” but an October press release had said the rules would apply “by the end of 2024.”
The new legislation will apply to phones as well as devices such as tablets, digital cameras, headsets and portable video game consoles. Laptops will also be covered in the future, but that won’t be until April 2026. The rules only apply to devices that offer wired charging, meaning devices that only charge wirelessly won’t be forced to use USB-C.
Apple, the largest phone maker that has yet to adopt USB-C, has previously announced that it plans to comply with the new rules. Based on the current situation, we will technically see USB-C in 2025’s iPhones. However, it seems possible to make this transition earlier.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims that the firm could make this change next year. Bloomberg, on the other hand, confirmed that the company is running tests using the port.
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