Top Lightning-Based Apple Products That Must Switch to USB-C by 2025 for EU Sale
Earlier today, the European Parliament voted in favor of enforcing a standard charger across all smartphones and a wide range of consumer electronic devices by the end of 2024, including new products released by Apple thereafter.
The new rule will directly and most heavily impact Apple, which across a wide range of products, continues to use a decade-old port. Below, we've listed some of the most popular Apple products that currently feature Lightning but will have to adopt USB-C if newer models go on sale in 2025 or later to comply with the new law.
- iPhone (the first iPhone with a USB-C port is actually rumored to be next year's iPhone 15)
- Entry-level iPad: The only iPad that currently still features a Lightning connector
- AirPods Charging Case: All AirPods cases continue to feature the Lightning port
- Accessories: MagSafe Battery Pack, Magic Keyboard, Magic Trackpad, Magic Mouse, EarPods, and Beats products
Apple introduced the Lightning port in 2012 as part of the iPhone 5 redesign, promising improved durability and ease of use compared to the 30-pin connector used on previous iPhones. During its announcement in 2012, Phil Schiller called the Lightning port a "modern connector for the next decade."
While Apple has chosen to bring USB-C to many of its iPad models, it has for the most part stuck with Lightning for its most popular products. Meanwhile, the rest of the industry has overwhelmingly moved to USB-C. A majority of Android flagship smartphones feature USB-C, and the port has become the standard for consumer products for makers and customers alike.
Popular Stories
In an all-caps post on Truth Social today, U.S. President Donald Trump said Apple should fully end its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies.
Tim Cook meeting with President Trump in 2017
"APPLE SHOULD GET RID OF DEI RULES, NOT JUST MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO THEM," he wrote.
Trump's post comes one day after Apple held its annual shareholders meeting, during which a majority of...
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements.
While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way.
By the time the ...
In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 18.4 will be released in April.
From the Apple News+ Food announcement:Coming with iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 in April, Apple News+ subscribers will have access to Apple News+ Food, a new section that will feature tens of thousands of recipes — as well as stories about restaurants, healthy eating, kitchen essentials, and more — from the...
Apple is making significant headway on its long-rumored foldable iPhone, with a new report suggesting the company has achieved a major breakthrough by effectively eliminating the screen crease that plagues current foldable devices.
According to Korean publication ETNews, Apple is finalizing its component suppliers for the foldable iPhone, with the selection process expected to be completed...
Multiple iPhone owners today noticed a pronunciation processing issue that causes the word "Trump" to momentarily show up when using dictation to send a message with the word "racist."
In some cases, when speaking the word racist through the iPhone's built-in dictation feature, the iPhone briefly interprets the spoken word as "Trump" and "Trump" text shows up in the Messages app before being ...
Apple plans to launch a second-generation AirTag in May or June this year, according to a post today from a leaker known as Kosutami.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously reported that a new AirTag would be released in mid-2025. May or June would align with that timeframe.
Below, we recap three new features rumored for the AirTag 2:
With a second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, the...
According to a post on X today from a leaker known as Kosutami, Apple plans to launch AirPods Pro 3 in May or June this year.
The leaker also claimed that an AirTag 2 will launch around the same time.
Kosutami is best known as a collector of prototype Apple hardware, but they have occasionally shared accurate information about Apple's future product plans. For example, they accurately...
The first beta of iOS 18.4 is now available, and it includes a small but useful change for CarPlay.
As we noted in our list of iOS 18.4 features, CarPlay now shows a third row of icons, up from two rows previously. However, this change is only visible in vehicles with a larger center display. For example, a MacRumors Forums member noticed the change in a Toyota Tundra, which can be equipped...
