Apple showed off its latest iterations in its product lineup on Tuesday, and while there were plenty of fancy new features for the company’s legions of power users to gush over, the biggest change is a simple one: They’re switching to USB charging.
The California-based technology giant is hosting an event at its Cupertino headquarters on Tuesday, where they unveiled new features for their smartwatches and phones.
The iconic iPhone — sales of which make up almost half of the $2-trillion company’s total sales — got a makeover, as expected, that will improve battery life, upgrade the camera and make it more environmentally friendly, with recycled components.
But the development that’s generating most of the attention is the addition of a USB-C port to the iconic device for the first time ever.
While the company likes to trumpet itself as an innovator that leads the way for other technology rivals to follow, on this issue it’s very much a laggard and the change is only happening because European lawmakers have mandated that all portable tech devices sold on the continent must have USB charging by the end of next year.
Instead of rolling out a version of the device solely for the European market, the company is making the USB-C port standard across all its smartphones worldwide from now on.
On the streets of Toronto, consumers shared their thoughts with CBC News about the European Union’s move to force tech companies like Apple to all use the same type of charging ports on their handheld devices.
Users say the move is long overdue.
Catherine Warren, a media and technology entrepreneur who is also CEO of Edmonton’s municipal innovation authority, Edmonton Unlimited, says all of her devices are Apple, so as someone who travels a lot, she is very excited by the prospect of not having to fly with a fistful of different cables.
“From my point of view, anything standard is good,” she told CBC News in an interview. “One of the biggest challenges with Apple products is … in their desire to be design-oriented, they have taken away consumer accessibility.
“This is a very positive small step toward compatibility that we are all after as consumers.”
Gay Gordon-Byrne, the executive director of consumer lobby group the Right to Repair Foundation, says while she welcomes the move, it’s important to remember that the company isn’t doing it out of the goodness of their heart.
“I think it’s a wonderful piece of work on the part of the EU,” she said in an interview. “[Apple] wouldn’t have done it not in a million years, if they weren’t forced to.
“My inner radar tells me they will try to make a bigger deal out of it than it is — just because anything that makes them look good, they’re happy to do.”
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