🦧 lightning gone
😔 sorry i don’t have THAT charger
we’ve all had that moment
“yo can i borrow your phone charger?”
“sure, it’s right there”
“oooh, this won’t work, i’ve got an iphone 🤦”
europe’s over it now
last tuesday, the european parliament passed a reform that includes rules introducing a "single charging port for most electronic devices"
that is, usb-c connectors (one of the left in the image above) are becoming the standard in the whole continent
by 2024, new iphones in production and distribution should be compatible with usb-c
by 2026, laptops are also expected to be usb-c compatible (though newer macbooks are already prepared for this change)
the consumer impact
the european commission estimates that a unified charger would save ~250m euroes for consumers
a 2019 commission study showed that around half the chargers sold were usb micro-b, 29% usb-c (the standard now), and 21% lightning (apple's own)
just a thought (imo)
this won’t hurt apple that much
chargers aside, europe’s known for being more stringent and contentious with apple’s monopoly-like behaviors and product roll-outs (not just with apple, but also with facebook, google, etc.)
apple’s likely to have already seen this coming with the iphone’s lightning charger being prohibited in europe
macbook laptops converting to usb-c charging ports a few years back is an indicative sign
apple: AAPL 0.00%↑