It also takes a financial cut from the third-party accessories and cables that go through its Made For iPhone program. “Apple makes good money from selling Lightning cables and its many related accessories.” “For Apple, it was all about being in control of its own ecosystem,” said David McQueen, a director at ABI Research. It also ignited a related accessories business, requiring users to buy a $30 Lightning adapter to connect the device to older docks, alarm clocks and speaker systems. (Apple will also likely need to develop a Lightning cable recycling program.)Īlthough Apple has voiced environmental concerns over what happens to old Lightning chargers, it has financial reasons for pushing back on the change, too.Īpple introduced the Lightning charger alongside the iPhone 5 in 2012, replacing its existing older 30-pin dock connector with one that enabled faster charging and had a reversible design. The EU’s decision is part of a greater effort to tackle e-waste overall, but could it generate more in the short term as people phase out their Lightning cables. “We have no choice, like we do around the world, to comply with local laws, but we think the approach would have been better environmentally and better for our customers to not have a government that perspective,” Joswiak said at the time.

Last year, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, Greg Joswiak, publicly stressed the value and ubiquity of the Lightning charger, which is designed for faster device charging, but noted “obviously we will have to comply” with the EU mandate. Still, the company has been resistant to making the change on the iPhone. (AAPL) has previously switched its iPads and MacBooks to USB-C charging.

“This is arguably the biggest disruption to iPhone design for several years, but in reality, it is hardly a dramatic move,” said Ben Wood, an analyst at CCS Insight.

(Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/Getty Images/FILE Lightning cable and Apple logo on iPhone are seen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on September 25, 2021.

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