> And actually does anyone know if that’s allowed with these new regulations? Like what if the iPhone 16 they drop it entirely???

Yes the wording of the law is:

> In so far as they are capable of being recharged by means of wired charging, the categories or classes of radio equipment referred to in point 1 of this Part shall: [ Legalese way of saying USB-C charging ]

So if a device has no power ports it's fine

Wireless charging was considered for standardization in the early stages of the law (preparation, it never made it into a draft iirc) but the landscape was still too much in flux for a similar regulation to make sense, they'll revisit it in 2026

I am genuinely surprised Apple doesn’t just go portless in the EU out the gate.

I think there are still some potential obstacles like diagnostic devices (how to diagnose phone that doesn't boot without a cable?) and pricing - adding magsafe by default would probably raise costs

> adding magsafe by default would probably raise costs

What do you mean by this? All iPhone models currently sold by Apple (except for the SE model) have magsafe and wireless charging by default.

They could also just have a non-charging Lightning port on the phones and say screw you to the EU :P

Oh, my mistake, I thought it was an additional accessory. Thanks for correcting me!

Recent Apple Watches use a tiny 60GHz very-short-range transceiver manufactured by STMicroelectronics for contactless data transfer.

> how to diagnose phone that doesn't boot without a cable

Small, non-charging port? (Not Lightning. Smaller.) Or just a sealed device that needs non-contact diagnostics. If the EU pushes back, they can make one that’s used serviceable but floods. Maybe that’s a valid marker niche.

How do you handle situation when you want to use your phone while charging it? Then you need to hold it together with charging pad which must not move otherwise your charging speed will drop significantly, which is synonymous to have it connected to the charger, but with much finicky "connector"

I usually charge phones wirelessly, and since I built the charger into my desk it's easy to pick up the phone, do what I want to do, and put it back down again. There's no friction at all, so unless you want extended use there's no issue.

I rarely even think about charging it anymore.

Ok. So you can't use the phone while charging. Cool!

They’re saying the phone is always charged, because it charges when you put it down.

It kinda sounds like this is an argument between being disciplined and undisciplined.

The solution is just to remember to put your phone back on your wireless charger and it will be fully charged at all times. Maybe there's some truth to it, but not everyone can remember to put their phone down the same place at all times.

I think not everybody has tried. This feels like one of those arguments that people have against things they’re unfamiliar with.

Maybe it’s an Android /iPhone thing. MagSafe, specifically, has made a fundamental change to this. The phone lines up satisfyingly with its charger.

I'm saying that requirement is no longer relevant because of a shift in how I use the device. It still does have a wired charging port though. Why not both?

iPhone has magnets on the back that hold the charger in the correct position. I rarely used wireless charging before that because of how terrible it was… now I rarely plug my phone in.

MagSafe (the wireless charging variety) was invented for this very reason. Magnets hold the charger in place, and can be small enough (not just MagSafe, but all Qi coils) that its not an issue to charge and use at the same time.

You guys have weird use cases.

My smartphone charges while I am asleep. I can't see a good reason to charge a phone during the day unless you are using gps navigation all day. That is the only usagr that drain battery a lot. But in this case that is usually because you are driving so the phone can be plugged easily.

>Serious question how long until they drop the port full stop?

Probably in 2 years if it allows a loophole where a proprietary $100 charger works better than generic.

Their stance on this issue has shown that dongleification design culture has won over user experience design culture within the Apple walls.

If I recall correctly the EU explicitly and intentionally excempted wireless charging from this regulation.

The argument was that this technology is not yet mature enough to standardize and should be allowed extra time to develop further.

They remarked that in the future additional laws may be introduced if required.

This was a clear warning directed at the industry (read Apple) to find a common solution for wireless charging without additional regulations.

If they are unable to do so the EU is ready for round two.

I'm 100% convinced this is why Apple basically gave their Magsafe charging scheme to the Qi consortium. Magsafe and the next Qi standard which uses magnets are intercompatible.

At Glastonbury, the largest line inside is for the free phone charging.

People queue for hours, a tragic waste of festival time.

Wireless pads would make charging times longer and hence the queues too.

Camping / trekking you still want cables for speed of charge

> People queue for hours, a tragic waste of festival time.

Back when I went to such things nobody carried around cellphones and didn’t have any less of an experience.

We even had plans like “if anyone gets separated we’ll all meet up at the beer tent” because nobody wants to get left a couple hours from home because they didn’t pay attention to where the car was parked.

Kids these days…

The idea that people would go to a festival and feel that their experience couldn't be complete without a smartphone or that, if they did feel that way, they wouldn't have made really sure that they had made backup plans for if their phone did run out of juice boggles my mind. People make themselves ridiculously dependent on devices that can run out of power, break, or get lost/stolen.

It's still ridiculous to stand in a long line to charge your phone so you can take crappy photos or video instead of actually enjoying the festival. And smartphones are pretty crappy for concert-type photography.

(People can obviously do whatever they want. I simply find that someone degrading their experience so they can take photos of some festival that probably has zillions of higher quality stills and footage online hard to understand.)

Wireless data transfer isn’t tenable for people taking hi-res photos or videos with their phones. According to Apple a one-minute 10-bit ProRes video is approximately 1.7GB in 1080p and approximately 6GB in 4K.

If Apple ever revives AirPower then I could see them removing the charging port on lower tier models but Pros would definitely need it.

Apple is not adding USB-C to iPhone, they will drop the port completely. If you follow any interview with Apple execs they very specifically say “We will comply with the law”, not “we will add USB-C”. The law says that if there is a port it must be USB-C but it doesn’t mandate the existence of one.