European law banning Apple's Lightning cables won't apply in UK

[What Hi-Fi?]

An EU law making USB-C the standard charging cable for small devices won't apply in the UK, leaving Apple's Lightning connector untouched.

European law banning Apple's Lightning cables won't apply in UK : Read more

 

[manicm]

A rather silly article, WHF needs to up its journalism game.

If EU bans Lightning, who cares about UK laws??? Is Apple going to spend money developing devices with two different ports for different regions??

Please! If Lightning is banned, its goodbye. Simples.

 

[fazalmajid]

It's not strictly speaking banned. Apple could put both USB-C and Lightning on a phone. Of course we know they are not going to do that.

 

[manicm]

It's not strictly speaking banned. Apple could put both USB-C and Lightning on a phone. Of course we know they are not going to do that.

I would say that for owners of iPhones <= 4 years old the port is only used for charging, and 99% of these users will be using wireless buds - I have the cheapest Edifier in-ears (30 quid) and they still sound very good.

It's only the most hardened audiophiles like John Darko who still used wired buds as cost is not an issue.

So the port is effectively single purpose, but there will be a big blowback for those who've coughed up on the latest Apple chargers.

 

[fazalmajid]

I would guess more people use a Lightning to USB cable to connect their phone to their cars as you get better ability to browse through your music collection over a wired connection on most cars. There are also a fair number of gadgets with only a Lightning plug, like my FLIR One thermal camera. I’ve set aside my old iPhone 5 for it.

I personally can’t wait for Lightning and micro-USB to be replaced everywhere by USB-C.