This is when the iPhone will be required to switch to USB-C

What you need to know

• The EU has proceeded with publishing its mandatory USB-C charging port in the Official Journal.
• The iPhone will be required to switch to a USB-C port by December 28, 2024.
• Apple's SVP of Marketing wasn't too happy with a government becoming too "prescriptive," however, the EU is looking to save citizens ~€‎250 million a year.

The European Parliament has stamped the official date Apple will be forced to switch its iPhone series to USB-C.

The EU has now signed this new order into the Official Journal, taking another step toward solidifying the requirement (via The Verge). With it being published, the EU has set a December 28, 2024 date for when new phones will be required to use USB-C.

Given the fact that the European Parliament has published this new legislation, citizens still have to play the waiting game. The new rule takes around 20 days before it goes into full effect. However, the 27 individual EU member states have nearly 24 months to implement this as national law.

This new USB-C requirement for all devices in the EU was assumed to go into effect before the end of 2024 when the new law was voted in favor. Most, if not all, eyes were on iPhone with this new legislation considering that Android phones have long since switched to using USB-C chargers while Apple's iPhone was still stuck as the odd one out using a lightning port.

Parliament had stated that new mobile devices that use a cable for charging with speeds up to 100W of power must contain a USB-C port. The EU looked at this new legislation as a way to rid the "lock-in" effect, in which you become dependent on a sole OEM's proprietary technology, i.e. Apple's lightning port/cable required to charge the device.

A couple of weeks after the European Parliament voted to proceed with the new law, Apple's SVP of Marketing Greg Joswiak confirmed that the iPhone will be moving forward. Although, they were not too happy with it seems as if the government was becoming too "prescriptive," pushing that a tech company should do something. That said, it's not clear when the iPhone will make the switch since it won't be required for the 2024 model, although rumors indicate that the company may introduce a USB-C iPhone sooner. It's also unclear if Apple plans to implement this change in the U.S., where lawmakers are urging similar charging laws.

The actuality of this is that the EU is looking to save its citizens nearly €‎250 million a year with this law as they will no longer have to juggle and buy new cables for a device. There is also an urge to cut down on e-waste in the EU, which is currently estimated to be around 11,000 tons.

With mobile devices moving into this mandatory USB-C charging method by the end of 2024, laptops will move into this new world by 2026.