Apple reluctantly agrees: the iPhone will have a USB C port

It has been a Numantine resistance and has come to an unexpected end for many.

Apple has finally given its arm to twist before the European directive that requires the sale in the countries of the Union of a single charger standard: USB-C.

On paper, the initiative makes sense, since the aim is to avoid having different charging cables in homes depending on the device, and thus reduce the amount of electronic waste.

However, and as we will see, there are nuances to take into account.

In this way, and except for last minute surprises, in the homes of all citizens of the European Union there will be a single charging cable for all devices, first, mobiles (phones and tablets) and a little later, the requirement will be extended to laptops.

The community body has solid arguments to defend this decision: in 2020 alone, 420 million mobile phones were sold in the EU and, on average, there are three chargers in each home, of which only two are used.

Both the manufacture and the subsequent disposal of these cables —especially the leftovers— pay a double toll by increasing the price of the product, on the one hand, but more importantly, by considerably increasing the ecological footprint of mobile devices.

But the calculation is not so simple, or at least that is what they think from Cupertino.

For what reason?

Why Apple has resisted until the end

It has been Greg Joswiak, Apple's

director , who has settled the issue in an interview with

"Of course, we will abide by the regulations, we have no other choice", were his statements when asked if the iPhone would finally have a USB-C port, the one chosen by Europe as a mandatory standard in its territory.

However, this manager has explained the reasons for his reluctance: there is a millionaire base of iPhone users in the Old Continent and this regulation will force all these users to throw away their Lightning cables (the standard connector on iPhones).

"That is going to generate waste," he concludes.

The truth is that the firm founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Worniak was already,

, migrating its connectors to USB-C on the new generation iPad and MacBook laptops, but this, beyond standardization, does not imply a better connection.

“USB-C is a type of connection”, explains Julio César Fernández, academic director of the Apple Coding Academy, “while Lightning is a standard that contemplates speeds of up to 480Mbits/s of transmission (like a USB 2.0) and charges of up to 12W of power”.

This expert's mention of charging and connection speeds is no accident: "The big problem with USB-C is that you buy a cable, but that doesn't mean it provides high charging and transfer speeds," he says.

One of the big problems with a standard not certified by the company is that it can offer a much lower performance than expected, and this is where the problems can start.

For Fernández, the USB-C connector is “a mixed bag in which everything fits and on mobiles, if someone buys a USB-C cable to copy things and it goes slow, they blame Apple”.

But this expert adds that Apple's resistance, in addition to potential performance problems of non-approved cables, may also be due to an economic issue: "Each Lightning cable has to pay a sales license (if it is certified)".

In this sense, the Cupertino giant homologates the quality of third-party accessories under the MFI program, in which a series of specifications must be met that guarantee product quality and performance, but for which Apple invoices.

Standardization “is great news” for the user

Thus, and from a technical point of view and for those who already own an iPhone, the regulations offer more disadvantages than advantages, since a connector that works under certain standards must be replaced by another that, depending on the product, may offer lower performance.

However, the evidence should not be denied: it is better to go on a trip with a single cable and charger than having to take several.

"This is great news," says Fran Besora, creator of the popular

, referring to the movements that Apple is gradually making towards the USB-C connector (both iPads and MacBooks, equip).

"It's easier for users to have just one cable than to carry two."

In any case, the fact that the measure is taken on a mandatory basis and due to a regulation, worries Besora: "It may be that Apple, to comply with the regulations, uses a USB-C connector with the speed of Lightning", in in which case, the speeds of this standard will not be used.

The curious thing about this measure is that Apple has finally adopted it when its strategic commitment could be to eliminate the ports and trust all its connectivity wirelessly.

The Americans already have the MagSafe standard, and we already know that their pulse does not tremble when it comes to adopting radical measures, such as the elimination of the headphone jack.

Incidentally, this decision was followed by its main rivals.

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