The European Union sends Apple a stern warning about USB-C charging on new iPhones – iPhone

This is expected to become official next September, and new directives from the European Union (EU) suggest the company will have to level the playing field when it comes to charging speeds.

The tech giant is said to be planning to apply MFi (Made for iPhone) certification to its range of USB-C accessories, leading many to speculate that chargers made by Apple itself will enable faster charging speeds on the iPhone 15 compared to third-party chargers. .

However, the European Union has warned Apple against imposing such restrictions. According to the German newspaper the timeEU Commissioner for Industry Thierry Breton has told the company that it will block the sale of iPhones in member states (such as France, Germany and Spain) if it attempts to circumvent the EU’s new USB-C charging policy.

“Devices that do not meet individual charger requirements are not certified for the EU market,” Britton reportedly wrote in a letter to Apple, after already reminding the company of the new rules in March.

Given the large amounts of electronic waste caused by unused chargers and the inconvenience caused by Android and iPhone users needing different cables for different devices, European policymakers have wanted to implement a single mobile phone charging standard for more than a decade. The European Union ended its regulation on common chargers in October 2022, and companies — including Apple — are expected to include USB-C charging ports for universal use in all new wearable tech products sold in EU countries from the end of 2024.

As such, there is no legal obligation on Apple to follow the rules before that date, which means that the iPhone 15 series — and possibly even the iPhone 16 series — could theoretically not incorporate charging ports optimized for accessories made by Apple.

This sounds like good news, but since Apple no longer includes a charger in the box with every iPhone purchase, interested parties will almost certainly have to shell out extra money for one of the company’s charging accessories in order to get the most out of their iPhone 15.

If Apple decides to go its own way until 2024, users will still be able to use third-party USB-C chargers to charge the iPhone 15, but these accessories are not expected to be as efficient as Apple chargers.