New EU laws will affect Apple chargers. Here's what they could mean for Australian consumers

Apple is among the tech companies that will be affected by new EU laws targeting chargers. Here's what the changes could mean for Australian consumers.

Apple will have to change its products' charging ports to be USB-C compatible due to legal reforms passed by the European Union. Source: Getty / Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto

Key Points

• The EU has passed new laws, meaning all electronic devices sold must be USB-C charger-compatible from 2024 onwards.
• This means Apple will have to change its current lighting-cable system in order to sell its phones in Europe.

If you have ever used an Apple iPhone, you're probably aware that the company uses its own unique type of charger.

Now, following an overhaul of laws in the European Union, all devices will have to be compatible with USB-C ports, meaning Apple will no longer be able to sell devices with lightning chargers in Europe.

Due to the size and influence of the EU market, these new laws could have ripple effects in other countries.

So what does this mean for Australia?

What is happening to chargers in Europe?

On Tuesday, the European Parliament passed the single-charger reforms, which are the first of this kind around the world.

Under the new laws, USB-C connectors - which are currently used by Android phones - will become the standard for most electronic devices.

If Apple is to continue selling phones and chargers in Europe, the company will have to change the lighting charging points it currently uses.

The regulations also cover devices such as e-readers, earbuds and other technologies.

Alex Agius Saliba, the EU lawmaker who steered the reform through the EU assembly, said outlawing old chargers would have had a disproportionate impact on consumers and the environment. Source: AAP / JULIEN WARNAND/EPA

Other manufacturing companies such as Huawei, Google and Samsung may also be impacted, but many of their devices already use USB-C chargers.

The laws will come into effect in 2024, and will be extended to include laptops from 2026.

All products sold after these dates will need to be compatible with the single-charger regulations.

According to EU politician Alex Agius Saliba, older chargers will not be outlawed, so customers will be able to continue to use older models.

Mr Saliba told a news conference that outlawing old chargers would have had a disproportionate impact on consumers and the environment, but noted that the change is expected to lead to a gradual phase-out of older products.

What does this mean for Australia?

While there have not been any reports of Australia changing its regulations or adopting a similar model, the EU ruling has sparked conversations about whether similar reforms could be introduced in other countries.

Technology commentator Trevor Long told SBS News the European Union standards are influential around the world.

"Europe is setting a global de facto standard here," he said.

"In this case, if this does go through and is implemented in 2024, essentially for Apple, for example, they'll need to either engineer a specific phone for Europe, or they'll just make all the phones meet whatever standard is out there. So it's a global standard by default."

How will the laws impact the price of chargers?

The European Commission has estimated that implementing a single charger would save about 250 million euros ($381.1 million) for consumers.

Having one charger to use across all devices would theoretically save money for customers who currently have to buy separate cables to suit each of their different devices.

Mr Long says having a single charger model could also save money for companies who previously had to pay for a licence to manufacture and sell products compatible with Apple's charger system.

While there have not been any reports of Australia changing its regulations or adopting a similar model, the EU ruling has sparked conversations about whether similar reforms could be introduced in other countries. Source: AAP, AP / Mark Baker

"When Apple comes up with a technology, like the Lightning connector, if a third party company wants to build something to suit them like a cable, and they want it to be approved by Apple that to pay a license fee and they have to also make them at a higher standard," he said.

"But there are cheaper versions of iPhone cables that don't meet that standard, they're on sale now. So I don't know how this drives prices down because there's already the choice to either make it with Apple's rubber stamp of approval or not."

For consumers, he does not believe prices for phones or chargers will drop.

What will happen next?

In theory, Apple will soon have to either adopt USB-C charging ports in all products sold around the world, or only implement this for the European market, and continue selling lightning products in other countries.

Mr Long told SBS News there is also a possibility of Apple abandoning charging ports and moving to a wireless charging model.

"One of two things will happen; that Apple will introduce USB-C into their iPhone and they'll do that when it's legally required," he said.

"But frankly, more likely is they avoid this legislation entirely by abandoning cables altogether and going with wireless charging and wireless data transfer ... I'd be fascinated to see whether Apple do something different as opposed to what the EU is kind of mandating they do."

SBS News has contacted Apple for comment.

With additional reporting by Reuters.