Apple ceases iPhone 14, third-gen iPhone SE sales in the EU
Apple has pulled the iPhone 14 and the third-gen iPhone SE from its online Apple Store in a number of EU countries, all to abide by inbound charger regulations.
iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus
Earlier in December, it was rumored that Apple would discontinue sales of the iPhone 14 generation of devices, as well as the current iPhone SE, in the European Union by the end of 2024. Two weeks later, it has become a reality.
The online version of the Apple Store covering many EU territories now do not list the iPhone 14 nor the iPhone SE. The top menu for the iPhone section of the regional Apple website now has nothing between the iPhone 15 and the Compare options in affected countries, skipping over where the iPhone 14 and SE used to exist.
The list of affected countries checked by AppleInsider includes France, Germany, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, and Sweden, as well as others within the bloc. While the UK isn't affected and still lists the models, Ireland does not.
Apple has not provided an official explanation for the removals of the models, but it is widely believed that the change is due to regulations set to become active at the start of 2025.
In October 2022, ministers of the EU Council finalized approvals for the common charger directive, which would require smartphones, tablets, and headphones to be sold equipped with USB-C ports in 2024. The aims of the directive are to make it easier for consumers to get the right charger for their hardware, and to minimize e-waste.
By pulling sales of Lightning-equipped models late in the year, Apple therefore abides by the directive in the affected countries, just in time for the end of the year.
Not an entire block
The regulation doesn't forbid the sale of older smartphones designed before the mandate's existence, only those designed since its passing. In theory, this could mean Apple could legally sell older iPhone models with Lightning, without being affected by the law.
The rules also don't impact resellers, which will be able to continue selling the pulled models while they still have available stock. Sourcing new supplies of the models from Apple will not be allowed.
It also won't change anything in the second-hand market, either, as it will apply to the sale of new devices.
In other countries where the sales still continue, it may not necessarily be a factor for long. In October, the UK government was considering revising the adoption of the charger mandate.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
comfortable using the older technology because the barn door is already open and the horse got out years ago with lightning cables.
So the customer ends up paying more for tech that they do not want all in the name of compatibility with competitors that they never wanted in the first place.
We need to keep milk cheap for families by not adding the cost of pasteurization.
Your argument has indeed been seen before.
Apple signed an agreement with EU in 2009 (!) to switch to a common charger and reduce e-waste: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/memo_09_301
The fact that Apple didn't deliver is all on Apple. It would indeed have been better if Apple had delivered as promised.
Now we simply have to work our way through the mess Apple created by standing still.
This is btw. not limited to EU. California, India, Saudi Arabia, part of UK, Switzerland, Norway... the world is moving.
Change always comes with pain and that's what we're currently (!) seeing.
That inevitably means that some situations for some consumers/manufacturers won't be ideal.
Those EU customers who don't want the latest Apple tech were going to be impacted anyway because Apple was already moving to USB-C.
The EU has simply created a legal framework to move industry in the same 'harmonised' direction.
And it's huge in scope so most people will be better off in the long run, especially as it covers far more than phones.
Chrismas Eve saw a lot of guests at my place and some wanted to charge their iPhones but lightning cables aren't as common at home as USB-C so that is a situation that will improve over time.
Away from phones, lots of uncommon charging connectors will also probably disappear to be replaced by USB-C.
I have no love to keep Lightning going, but that is not the point. When governments start to dictate the development of products either through mandates or fines, you are going down a slippery road that you will not like.
For example, what if Apple or someone else invents a demonstrably better connector? Better than USB-C. More secure, faster, much greater bandwidth. Can they develop and introduce it? What if USB-C limits functionality for other endeavors a company envisions for its products?
Let the market decide, and let innovation guide.
Years ago an MoU was used but that was deemed unsuccessful with regards to the results achieved (in spite of effectively reducing fragmentation by a large margin) so this time around, legislation has been used.
Ironically, the wireless charging market is not affected by this regulation as it wasn't considered sufficiently fragmented but the EU has made it clear that if it were to reach the same stage as the wired charging market, it would end up being included in the directive.
Similar legislation is very likely in other areas.
As for future development, the original texts of the EU proposal made specific reference to future charging technologies and even mentioned one by name.
As long as everyone moves on the same 'common charger train', improvements will not be stifled. Apple of course is a founding member of USB-IF which is undoubtedly where the next advancement of USB-C will emerge from.
This time it is about Apple producing e-waste and letting taxpayers pay. Apple agreed 15 years ago to fix it but did nothing. What would you have done?
The EU's USBC mandate isn't doing anything regarding e-waste. In terms of e-waste, only difference is that what used to be Lightning cable e-waste in the EU has now turned into USBC cable e-waste. It won't be less wasteful until phone companies stop putting USBC cables in the box. Apple, who is the most likely to stop putting USBC cables in the box, probably will ship a USBC cable in the box for the next 3 to 5 years. The higher the cost Apple product, the longer it will ship with a USBC cable.
For any high cost product, a USBC cable is going to be in the box for the foreseeable future. Some low cost products may not come with USBC cables in the future, but that is a long road ahead. I just recently bought, and returned, a Bluetooth Keychron mouse for $40. It came with 2.4 GHz wireless USBA transceiver, a USBC cable, a USBC C to A adaptor, and a USB A to C adaptor. It was intended to be Bluetooth mouse.
The prevalence of wireless 2.4 GHz peripheral connections in the PC world is basically driven by Bluetooth not being available on all PCs in the past; and, Windows' Bluetooth UI probably sucks, and it is easier to just plug in the Wireless-G USBA dongle for wireless mice than to connect through Bluetooth. It seems every Bluetooth mouse for Windows comes with 2.4 GHz dongles. Meanwhile, virtually every computing device has Bluetooth! Argh!
Anyways, to reduce e-waste, gov'ts have to mandate OEMs to take back their used stuff and recycle them. The EU has something like this, but they need to be stronger measures. Or, have an actual gov't recycling program that they do themselves. Not ship and dump to some other country with a promise of recycling, but it needs to be done in our own backyards.
"Consumer inconvenience:
Most mobile phone users (84% according to the consumer panel survey) have experienced problems related to their phone chargers in the last two years. Commonly cited problems (each experienced by between one third and half of respondents) were the inability to charge certain devices (as fast) with certain chargers; having too many chargers taking up space in the home and/or workplace; situations where they needed to charge their phone, but the available chargers were incompatible with it; and confusion about which charger works with what device. Around 15% to 20% of all survey respondents who experienced one or more of these problems reported it had caused them significant issues.
Negative environmental effects:
The production of each charger requires raw materials; their production and transport also generate CO2 emissions. When chargers are no longer used, they generate electronic waste. The higher the
Apple spent an entire decade shipping a paltry 5W charger with every phone and was just another e-waste contributor as it's probable that most iPhone purchasers already had that exact charger (or more than one of those chargers) stuffed, unused, into drawers. It was probably the same story with the earbuds back in the day.
When Apple stopped shipping chargers in the box it was crystal clear to industry where the EU was going with regards to both the common charger initiative and the planned requirement to unbundle chargers from new phones. Apple, as part of the industry, was active during the consultation phase.
Apple has about 30% unit share in the EU. Are you saying that 70% of non-Apple cell phones sold in the EU over that decade (2010 to 2020 or so) have chargers that are still in use, and are not landfilled? So, most new phone buyers in the EU are going to be using 10 year old power adaptors?
I actually use Apple 5W USBA charging adaptors at my home desk, and have one in my backpack, to charge my iPhone and iPad. These are the older ones without the green dots. The wife uses an old one to charge her Apple Watch. So, I do think people will be using old adaptors for all sorts of devices, but no, it is not reducing e-waste. The number of people reusing old stuff is pitiful. I'm like the 0.1%. Most everyone else is just going to go out and buy a new, cheap, disposable power adaptors to charge their devices.
In the grand scheme of things, this level of e-waste and CO2e is pretty small. CO2 emissions has to be reduced in all sectors, but this is very small fry. A person driving their car 16,000 km is 2.4 kilotonnes of CO2. 900 kilotonnes CO2e is about 400 cars, each driving 16,000 km. I don't even want to find out what it is for coal-based electricity generation. A kWH of coal based electricity probably has the CO2e of 100 5W power adaptors.
That's why we have eco-design and right to repair directives coming into force. The updated batteries directive too.
It all really got moving many years ago with the EU WEEE and RoHS directives.
Either way, the idea is reduction of e-waste and everything associated with the design, manufacturing, repair, transport, re-use, safe disposal etc.
Cars are also being dealt with. Single use plastics. Energy efficiencies across the board. It is all about reducing the environmental and health impact.
Unboxing the charger was obviously low hanging fruit but it needed to be churned through the system and made law.
Obviously Apple had to spin the unboxing of the charger to its favour. That's understandable.
However, after shipping the same woefully underpowered charger in the box for a decade, it begs the question: with many users upgrading to new iPhones from old iPhones (through trade-ins for example), why did literally no one in 10 years consider unboxing the charger?
Why wasn't the charger upgraded in those years as part of the purchase, even though the phones themselves could charge faster than the included solution? My opinion is that Apple simply preferred for users to buy faster chargers seperately.
Apple did pretty much have a Dongle Decade by the way. It was subjected to many memes as a result.
Not that any of this is Apple only. It's about industry, consumers, competition and a lot more.
And it's not only about technology either. The textile industry in the EU is going to see huge requirements put in a place very soon.
I can live with the choice of USB-C but I believe the confusion between cables that have USB-C connectors and the functionality provided by those cables is going to diminish some of the purported benefits of standardization until all cable manufacturers standardize on cable marking. I know I have USB-C cables that are not usable for certain applications. I still see a lot of widgets with built-in rechargeable batteries being shipped with USB-A to USB-C charging cables. It’ll take some time for the benefits to come to fruition.
As much as I am not a fan of the EU’s current heavy handed approaches and overreach in some brand-specific cases, the EU and UK have long been leaders in pushing for standardization that delivers great value to industry and consumers. I’ve been heavily involved in standardization work and the bulk of the contributors to these standards have come from the EU and UK. Some of the standards organizations like IEC (electrotechnical) founded in UK and TUV (safety, quality) founded in Germany have existed for more than 100 years and are still highly relevant today. I have contributed to four standards and all of my product development work has been subject to conformance and compliance with standards such as IEEE, IEC, ISO, TUV, UL, CSA, CE, etc.
In a highly connected global marketplace the need for standards is highly critical. At some point you need a standard and cannot argue indefinitely about which candidate approach is “better.” You have to pick one and stick to it whether or not it is “perfect” in everyone’s opinion.
I think that can happen, but it happens because there is something else replacing it, something that is more valuable than a cell phone. Probably not in the next 5 to 10 years. There is at least another replacement cycle in cell phones to come to support LLM based software, probably another for more power efficient wireless technology, before phone lifetimes stretch to 6, 7, 8 years.