Enthusiasm looks different.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Joswiak explained: "Of course we have to submit.
We have no other choice."
The background: On Monday, the Council of the European Union finally approved the long-planned “Directive for uniform chargers” in the EU.
The EU had been fighting for this standard since 2009, and from autumn 2024 all cell phones, tablets and digital cameras must be equipped with a USB-C connection for charging.
And Apple doesn't like it at all.
According to Joswiak, he has a lot of sympathy for the motives of the EU.
After all, it's about avoiding e-waste, lots of e-waste.
According to the EU Commission, mobile phone chargers and cables were responsible for around 11,000 tons of this in 2018.
Apple has therefore equipped its chargers with detachable cables to counteract this, says Joswiak: "You choose the cable that fits your device, regardless of whether it is from our company or from another company." The new EU regulation, according to the Apple manager, will in any case result in billions of Lightning cables ending up in the trash because their owners no longer have any use for them.
In my experience, Lightning cables don't last forever anyway and are ready for the recycling center after a few years at the latest.
In addition, Apple has long been a USB-C company.
MacBooks and iMacs have been equipped with the slim socket for years, and with the new iPad, the last of the Apple tablets is now also charged via USB-C.
Only the iPhones are left out: you still need the same cable today as the iPhone 5 did when the Lightning charging standard was presented in 2012.
And Apple is still warning of supposedly dangerous copies of its microchip strips.
What Greg Joswiak said in that interview was anything but a clear statement, he didn't reveal much about Apple's plans.
Ultimately, the company has three options for reacting to the EU regulation:
Equip future iPhones with a USB-C socket by autumn 2024 at the latest, but possibly earlier.
Consistently completing the path taken with the abolition of the headphone jack and making iPhones completely wireless, i.e. putting a charging pad in the box instead of the charging cable.
The devices would also be better protected against dust, dirt and water.
However, charging without a cable takes longer - and you would have to carry the pad with you if you want to charge on the go.
Build custom iPhones with USB-C for sale in the EU while the rest of the world keeps getting Lightning iPhones.
A logistical nightmare that could also increase manufacturing costs and create a gray market.
And there is a fourth possibility, namely that Apple's engineers have long been working on a solution that turns the apparent disadvantage into a possible advantage, just like they did with the iPhone 14.
Its sensor and camera bar, which some users found ugly on the iPhone 13, has become a usable area with technical tricks, which marketing experts have dubbed Dynamic Island.
I wouldn't be surprised if the same marketing team came up with a similarly colorful name for whatever response to the EU's USB-C requirement.
And analogous to the USB-C adapter for the Apple Pencil on the new iPad, the company could offer a USB-C adapter that can be used to charge future iPhones with old Lightning cables if you really want to do that.
Our current Netzwelt reading tips for SPIEGEL.de
"This is what Zuckerberg's metaverse looks like" (eleven minutes of reading)
In order to advertise his vision of a virtual world, the meta boss likes to show himself as a glossy avatar who wanders through complex computer-generated worlds.
Markus Böhm did the reality check and looked at Meta's construction kit for VR worlds, »Horizon Worlds«.
Spoiler: It doesn't look quite as glamorous as in Zuckerberg's commercial.
»Elon Musk's role in the war« (five minutes of reading)
With its Starlink satellite internet system, the tech entrepreneur has provided Ukraine with an important tool in the fight against the Russian army.
Reports of temporary system failures – at the front of all places – raised questions, which my colleagues also investigated on site.
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If the screen stays black and your iPhone won't turn on at all, there's no reason to panic.
You can usually revive the seemingly dead gadget with these simple tips.
External links: Three tips from other media
»MIT Technology Review Podcast: The role of women in IT history« (German/English, 37 minutes of listening)
In the early days of computer technology and the Internet, women would have had an easier time finding a place in the tech industry, says Claire Evans in the Podcast of the "MIT Technology Review".
With the professionalization that followed, the situation changed.
But the author and musician also outlines a solution.
»Worried About Nuclear War?
Consider the Micromorts« (English, nine minutes of reading)
Do you know Micromorts?
never mind
In this article, Wired explains what this odd unit of measurement is all about and why it can help better assess the risk of nuclear war.
»Two cuts and the Internet is gone« (eight minutes of reading) The
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»Zeit« explores the question of how dependent modern society is on the strings that run along railway tracks, through the deep sea and across countries.
Have a good rest of the week
Matthew Kremp