The European Union finally made a decision on the 8th, stipulating that all new mobile phones sold in EU member states after December 28, 2024 must use Type-C ports. In addition to mobile phones, the bill also it would also apply to devices such as tablets, digital cameras, headphones, and handheld game consoles.
The bill formulated by the European Union has been rumored since the middle of this year, was voted on and approved in early October, but the exact implementation date has not yet been defined and was not officially announced until yesterday on the Official Journal of the European Union, making the bill formally binding. And the first to bear the brunt of course is the iPhone series; which means, When charging by cable, the original Apple-exclusive Lightning interface needs to be changed to a Type-C interface to be sold in the EU 。
Switch to Type-C, Apple executives are not happy
However, already this year, when the European Union began discussing and formulating this bill to force the unification of the Type-C interface, Apple officials have expressed strong opposition, pointing out that the Apple’s approach EU will only stifle innovation and create more electronics waste.
Greg Joswiak, the deputy general manager of Apple’s marketing department, publicly said in October this year, “Obviously we have to follow the regulations and we have no choice. Use Type-C after the fall of 2024.”
Joswick also declined to say at the time whether Apple would use Type-C outside the EU. But he said Apple, which in the past tended to go its own way and rely on its engineers, now must be forced to follow lawmakers to change hardware standards.
He also believes that the Apple charger already has a detachable charging cable, which can roughly solve the problem of specification standardization, so changing the iPhone interface from Lightening to Type C is the main reason for generating a large amount of waste electronic .
Ming-Chi Kuo: iPhone 15 will switch to Type-C interface
That said, well-known Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo pointed out in November this year that the iPhone 15, which will be released in the fall of 2023, will ditch the Lightning interface and use Type-C instead.
Ming-Chi Kuo also provided more detailed information; the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus standard wired transmission speed specifications are USB 2.0, but the high-end iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max support higher speed specifications, and at least support USB 3.2 or Thunderbolt 3 transfer speeds.
Of course, the entire smartphone and tablet market has accepted the Type C trend. iPads and Macs have also accepted the Type C interface, but Apple still seems dissatisfied with this change; Guo Mingchi also predicted last year that Apple will “not” consider the Type C. CC interface
Some people even speculated that Apple would simply switch to MagSafe wireless charging; MagSafe would have allowed Apple to continue to block its ecosystem and control the profits and the industrial chain of sales of accessories.
Does lightning cost more? What exactly is Apple trying to do?
However, these changes to the new generation of iPhones can’t help but raise questions about the cost.
Compared to Type-C, Lightning is more expensive to manufacture because the chip inside the Lightning charging cable makes it more expensive. In terms of speed, Lightning transmits at USB 2.0 speed (480Mbps), while Type-C transmits at a maximum speed of 40Gbps, an 80 times difference.
But the iPhone probably won’t drop in price as a result. LeaksApplePro, a well-known industry insider on Twitter, revealed that the iPhone 15 Ultra (Ultra is the new Pro Max model name) will increase the material cost up to $100, so the starting price of the iPhone 15 Ultra will be go up to $1,299, compared to the iPhone 14 Pro. The Max costs $200 more, the biggest increase in iPhone history.
Now it is not sure whether the Lightning interface will be completely abandoned, although Lightning was once a new technology that attracted everyone’s attention 10 years ago, there has been no major upgrade in the past 10 years. Compared with the popular Type-C, the cost is higher, the shipping is also slower, so why didn’t Apple catch up? Is it really just for “environmental protection” reasons?
There are likely reasons to point out that, Apple keeps Lightning to maintain charging line income, and may also charge Made for iPhone (MFi) fees when sub-factories or other manufacturers produce cheaper Lightning charging lines 。
Although Apple has not announced the price of MFi, according to “AppleInsider” media statistics, The efficiency of a charging line reaches up to 50% and in 2021, iPhone shipments will be approximately 237.9 million units. Assuming that only 10% of users purchase MFi charging cables, Apple’s commission profit is also close to US$100 million, which is still a sizable source of income. Perhaps the profit from the charging cable is the factor Apple refuses to give up on Lightning.
source:The limit、Forbes、BusinessFocus
Responsible editor: Lin Meixin
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