Apple Abandons Lightning Port... Will iPhone 15 Adopt USB-C?

Apple Senior Vice President of Marketing
"Agree with EU Decision... Will Comply"
Apple Korea Has Not Released an Official Statement

Apple Lightning Connector

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] Apple is expected to abandon its proprietary Lightning connector and adopt the USB-C charging standard. Attention is focused on whether this will be applied starting with the iPhone 15 series, scheduled for release in the fall of 2023.

According to foreign media such as AppleInsider and MacRumors on the 26th (local time), Greg Joswiak, Apple's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, recently stated at the 'Tech Live' event hosted by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), "Apple agrees with the European Union's (EU) decision to require standardization of charging connectors for consumer products," adding, "We will comply with this."

The European Parliament passed a bill on the 24th (local time) mandating a common charging standard, USB-C, for IT companies including Apple. According to the bill, the mandatory standardization will take effect from 2024, and the scope includes tablet PCs, smartphones, keyboards, game consoles, headphones, and more.

Apple maintained the Lightning connector in the new iPhone 14 series and AirPods Pro 2 announced at the September 'Apple Event.' Although there were expectations that Apple would switch charging standards starting with the iPhone 14, market predictions were off.

Market research firm TrendForce also predicted that Apple would apply USB-C charging cables to the iPhone 15 series scheduled for release next year. TrendForce noted, "It is already well known that the transition from Lightning to USB-C will occur," and added, "Apple will maintain the current four-model lineup, differentiated by two processors, to distinguish between standard and premium models."

Apple Korea has not issued an official statement regarding this matter.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.