Apple's senior vice president confirmed the company will comply with regulations on charging standards from the European Union. This means that the Lightning port is removed.
In an interview with the WSJ, senior Apple executives confirmed that the company is required to comply with European Union regulations on charging ports on electronic devices. This means that all Apple products must be equipped with USB-C connectivity from 2024.
On October 24, the Council of the European Union officially approved the directive on the use of USB-C as a common charging standard in European countries. Accordingly, by the end of 2024, all consumer electronics sold in the EU will have to use USB Type-C standard charging ports.
Specifically, the new rules will apply to all consumer technology products in Europe such as mobile phones; tablets and e-readers; digital cameras and game consoles; wireless headphones and Bluetooth speakers; wireless mouse and keyboard; mobile navigation system.
After requiring the iPhone to be equipped with a USB-C port, the EU can force Apple to give up its monopoly on the App Store, the business division that is bringing in huge profits.
From November 1, the Digital Markets Act of the European Union (DMA) officially came into effect. This regulation requires technology giants like Apple and Google to open their platforms to 3rd parties. That makes the App Store may lose its current monopoly position.
The DMA comes into effect a week after the EU approved the selection of USB-C as the common charging standard for mobile devices in Europe from 2024. All companies, including Apple, will have to follow the law.
According to the BGR, the EU DMA will impose new rules on the Internet, forcing applications and services to be more open. Amazon, Google, Meta and other big tech companies may have to adjust how their digital products work in the EU. And those changes could affect how products work around the world.
Gerard de Graaf, a veteran EU official who has put the DMA on the agenda of the European Parliament believes that the new regulation will have a positive impact, forcing the tech giants to abandon the model. business model "walled garden". Last October, de Graaf was appointed director of the EU representative office in San Francisco.
"If you have an iPhone, you can download apps not only from the App Store but from other app stores or from the Internet," de Graaf said of how app stores work under the DMA regulations.
The DMA requires the dominant platform to allow a smaller competitor to operate in parallel. Regulations could also force Meta's WhatsApp to receive messages from rival apps like Signal or Telegram; prevent Amazon, Apple, and Google from giving special favors to their apps and services.
However, change does not come suddenly. First, the EU has to decide which companies are big enough to be classified as "gatekeepers" and have to follow the strictest rules. De Graaf expects about 10 names to be in that group, with details to be announced early next year. They will have 6 months to comply with the DMA.
Thus, if Apple is classified as a company with exclusive products and services, it will still take some time before they open their doors to 3rd party application stores on iPhone and iPad.
But DMA is not the only concern. Apple is facing strict regulatory scrutiny in many countries as well as opposition from app developers. Typically, the long legal battle with Epic Games. In South Korea, Apple had to support 3rd party payment methods on the App Store at the request of the authorities.
