A European Union Parliament Committee has voted to standardised smartphone power connectors, meaning Apple could be forced to drop its Lightning port connection.
With a move to standardised mobile chargers having been the subject of much discussion in recent months, a committee within the European Union Parliament has this week voted unanimously to introduce a law that would force all smartphone makers to adopt the same charger type.
A move that is looking to reduce waste from unused chargers, the ruling from the internal market and consumer protection committee still needs to pass through the European Council and be approved by Parliament before it is enforced.
With most Android and Windows phone handsets, including the market leading likes of the Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC One and Nokia Lumia 1020 being charged by microUSB, the ruling would likely have the biggest effect on Apple.
Having introduced its current Lightning connector alongside the iPhone 5 last year, Apple has adopted its own portable device chargers for a number of years, with the iconic 30-pin connector having been Apple’s charger connection of choice for 9 years previously.
Despite the Lightning connector offering faster file transfers and a simpler, either side up connection type than microUSB, it is unlikely that Apple’s port type would get the nod as the universal connection of choice in Europe.
Although the European Parliament committee has yet to outline what connection type would become the standard, it has been suggested that tablets could join smartphones under the new ruling.
Read More: iPhone 5S review
Via: TechRadar
