Earlier this week, we discovered that Apple had initially deliberate to make the upcoming iPhone 17 Air its first portless telephone with wi-fi charging help and cloud information syncing. The model, nevertheless, reportedly backed off the thought contemplating potential issues from European Union regulators. The EU had pushed the iPhone maker to vary the charging ports of its smartphones from the lightning connector to USB Type-C. Now, a brand new report means that dropping the USB Type-C port for a very portless telephone could be authorized.
As per a report by 9to5Mac, dropping the USB Type-C port for a very portless telephone could be compliant with the EU regulation. The publication quoting Federica Miccoli, European Commission press officer, states that portless telephones are permitted.
EU, in its Common Charger Directive, talked about this as an reply to this query — Can radio gear that may solely be recharged by way of wi-fi charging be made accessible available on the market with out incorporating the harmonised charging answer?
“Yes, since, such radio equipment cannot be recharged via wired charging, it does not need to incorporate the harmonised (wired) charging solution”
The regulation reportedly lets the EU take motion in favour of wi-fi charging requirements, versus proprietary ones.
“Regarding wireless charging, the Commission will promote the harmonisation of wireless charging in order to avoid future fragmentation of the internal market and any negative effects on consumer and the environment. The Commission will monitor the evolution of all types of wireless charging technologies (not only inductive), particularly market developments, market penetration, market fragmentation, technological performance, interoperability, energy efficiency and charging performance”.
As said in recital 13 of the Common Charger Directive, “the Commission should take action towards promoting and harmonising such solutions to avoid future fragmentation of the internal market”.
Mark Gurman had claimed just lately that Apple initially deliberate to make the iPhone 17 Air “Apple’s first completely port-free iPhone”. Apple reportedly determined to not go this path to keep away from potential penalties from EU regulators.
EU’s USB Type-C Mandate
EU in recent times mandated that every one cell phones and different digital devices bought within the EU should be geared up with a USB Type-C charging port by the top of 2024. The regulation had important implications for corporations together with Apple who had used its proprietary Lightning port for over a decade. Apple switched to USB Type-C ports with the iPhone 15 sequence in 2023.
