For a long time, the European Union has been pushing for smartphone makers to use a universal charger, the Type-C charger. Officials in the European Union have voted to support this move, this puts Apple in a tight corner. The votes passed by the members of the European Parliament were 43 to 2 in favour of the party adopting Type-C as a universal charger.
For years now, Apple has been the odd one out in terms of the type of chargers used to power devices. Whilst other smartphone manufacturers stick to Type-C Chargers, Apple has picked lightning cables. Now, lightning cables being the choice for powering Apple devices only applies to the iPhones. Other Apple devices such as the iPad, MacBooks, and so on all use the Type-C charger. Despite being different, Apple has not made any move to switch to Type-C chargers for its iPhones. But all of that might be coming to an end. Asides from Apple’s desire to be exclusive, what other reasons are there to make smartphone manufacturers accept a universal charger?
The amount of waste generated from having devices that use different chargers is on the rise. Alex Agius Saliba from the European Union said regarding the usage of a universal charger that “It will help protect the environment, further aid the reuse of old electronics, save money, and reduce unnecessary costs and inconveniences for businesses and consumers.” Taking further steps regarding this move will push Apple to the edge of its seat. How will Apple accept this move by the European Union?
This advancement will do other smartphone manufacturers in China and other parts of the world no harm. This is because most if not all smartphone manufacturers except Apple use Type-C chargers to power all their devices.