Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1507380
5 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 SEPTEMBER 2023 Apple's conversion to USB-C a 'great victory' for consumers and Agius Saliba KURT SANSONE APPLE will unveil its latest iPhone this week and it will most certainly feature a USB-C charge point in what is a victory for EU lawmakers. The changes are anticipated in the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro to be un- veiled on 12 September at Apple's an- nual autumn event. The new handsets are likely to ditch the proprietary Lightning adaptor and conform to EU law requiring manu- facturers to adopt a common charging connection. Phone manufacturers have until De- cember 2024 to convert to USB-C charging connections in what the EU believes will save consumers money and cut waste. Apple's anticipated conversion to USB-C represents a sweet victory of sorts for Labour MEP Alex Agius Sali- ba, who was the European Parliament's rapporteur on the subject. If Apple wants to target EU consum- ers and benefit from the single market it has to abide by the new standard, he told MaltaToday. "This is definitely a great victory for consumers who will now be able to use one common charger for a good num- ber of portable electronic products that they use on a daily basis," he said. He said the new EU rule will be fi- nancially and environmentally more beneficial for consumers and the en- vironment, describing it as a "win-win situation". "Consumers will spend less money on proprietary expensive chargers that are only compatible with a limited number of devices. But the new rule will also benefit our environment since from next year we will be producing 14,000 tonnes less of useless chargers for smartphones alone," the Maltese MEP said. Apple's latest iPads already use USB-C but the company had opposed the EU rule, arguing that mandating just one type of connector stifles innovation. It remains unclear Apple's conversion to USB-C will be a global change to the product, or be specific to phone sets sold in the EU. However, the tech giant is unlikely to make a different version of the handset for the European market alone. The switch will enable customers to benefit from faster download speeds and use a single charger for iPads, Macs and iPhones. The EU common-charger rule cov- ers a range of small and medium-sized portable electronics, including mobile phones, tablets, e-readers, mice, key- boards, headphones, digital cameras and other electronic devices. Any of these charged using a cable will have to have a USB Type-C port, re- gardless of who makes the devices. Laptops will also have to abide by the rules but manufacturers have longer to make the changes. Alex Agius Saliba held several talks with tech giants, including Apple, as the EU pushed its common charger policy that eventually became law in 2022