The adoption of the USB Type C standard and the European Union’s obligation to adapt to it forces Apple to stop selling USB models. iPhone 14 and SE in the Old Continent by the end of December: all the fault of a directive through which manufacturing companies are forced to equip their electronic devices with a USB-C port to recharge the battery, and the Cupertino giant has only suitable starting from the iPhone 15.
The interruption of the sale of these models comes some time earlier than the times generally followed by Applewhich traditionally continues to make mobile phones available in its catalog for a period of three years: this means that, following the usual guidelines, the iPhone 14 should have remained on the market also in 2025, at least until the moment in which the company had not announced the arrival of version 17 of his smartphone. The abrupt interruption will clearly have repercussions from an economic point of view, since approximately a whole year will be missing from the total calculation of earnings on the models.
As mentioned, the cause of the end of the marketing of the iPhone 14 and SE is an EU directive, the 2022/2380which was definitively approved on 24 October 2022 and published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 7 December 2022: based on what was then determined, starting from next Saturday 28 December 2024 almost all electronic devices sold in Europe they must be equipped with a USB Type-C port for charging the battery, therefore adapting to a single standard.
However, this tax will not only affect smartphones, but also tablets, video game consoles, digital cameras, e-book readers, headphones/earphones, portable speakers, mice, keyboards and portable navigation systems. As for laptops, i notebooksthis obligation will start from 28 April 2026.
But what will happen now to Apple models affected by this new regulation? The Cupertino giant will no longer be able to sell iPhone 14 and SE either through its official online store or even in its physical stores: the last sales may be
carried out only by authorized retailers, but exclusively while stocks last. In addition to this, Apple will be forced to stop marketing products equipped with Lightning ports, such as the Magic Keyboard.