The EU Commission has formally warned Apple of hindering charging speeds of USB-C cables not part of the “Made for iPhone” program. EU Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton informed Apple that such practices would prevent any future iPhones equipped with a USB-C port from being sold in the EU, reads a machine-translated article from German newspaper Die Zeit.
Trusted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted that Apple may adopt a “Made for iPhone” program to certify specific USB-C to work with the future iPhone 15 lineup, widely expected to be the first set of iPhones to adopt a USB-C port. Like the current Lightning cables, USB-C cables that are MFi-certified would have full charging and data transfer speeds, whereas non-certified cables would see their speeds hindered in some way.
Breton’s warning letter was sent in response to these reports, stating that “devices that do not meet the requirements for the common charger will not be allowed on the EU market.” Additionally, Die Zeit reports that Breton privately warned Apple in a meeting held in mid-March.
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The EU plans to publish an extensive guideline to phone makers to guarantee a “uniform interpretation of the legislation” sometime in the third quarter of this year, adds the article. The EU’s law to adopt a uniform charging port for all smartphones sold in the union has a deadline of December 28, 2024.
The iPhone 15 lineup is widely expected to forgo the Lightning port in favor of USB-C later this year. Apple began shifting the iPad to USB-C beginning with the 2018 iPad Pro lineup, but the company has not limited USB-C functionality for said iPads the same way it has been rumored to do so with iPhones.
