One of the big talking points among accessory manufacturers was the new charging structure being introduced by Apple with several admitting to ChannelNews that they are currently under NDA’s and are not allowed to talk about what the changes mean to the accessory industry.
The market already knows that Apple is set to shift its iPhone charging port from Lightning to USB-C after pushing back on such a change for years with CE Retailers in Australia set to reap the benefits of any changes.
Under threat is Apple’s licensing which in the past has made Apple lightening cables expensive compared to an Android USB C cable.
Driven in part by European legislators from the EU, Apple is being forced to make changes and they are not happy.
If Apple Inc. had its way, the iPhone would continue to use the current Lightning connector for the next few years — until the point when the company is ready to begin phasing out ports on its smartphones altogether, and that more about the massive revenues that Apple generate licensing their technology.
At IFA European Union executives admitted that they were the ones that forced Apple to standadise their connectivity by moving to the USB-C standard by the end of next year.
Bloomberg claims that Apple is now in the awkward position of embracing the very technology it didn’t want.
When the company introduces the iPhone 15 on Sept. 12, USB-C connectors will appear on its four new phone models, as well as the AirPods Pro, and Apple will describe it as a major win for customers.
The benefits for Apple customers are:
Customers will be able to use a single charging cable for iPhones, Macs, and iPads.
It will bring breakthrough data transfer speed increases for the new high-end iPhone models.
Phones will charge faster in some instances.
The iPhone will shortly be compatible with chargers used by billions of non-Apple devices.
Back when it was still resisting the switch, Apple laid out a few arguments, including that the change would harm the environment — given that billions of obsolete cables may wind up in a landfill.
Another rationale, floated by Apple marketing chief Greg Joswiak last year, is the potentially harmful precedent of governments influencing product design.
Apple loves to sting users of their products for every dollar they can.
Apple stopped putting chargers in iPhone boxes with the release of the iPhone 12 in 2020.
The year before, the company included a charging brick with a USB-C port as part of the iPhone 11 Pro package.
The iPhone 11s also had a brick, but one featuring an old-school USB 2 port — the same accessory that was included with earlier iPhones.
That means anyone currently using a charger sold with an iPhone 11 or earlier model will need to buy a new brick that has a USB-C port (or buy a cable that converts USB 2 to USB-C).
