With the start of the new year, Apple will stop selling the iPhone SE and base models of the iPhone 14 series in Europe as a rule requiring phones to have a USB Type-C charging port comes into force in the region.
Image source: apple.com
Currently, the oldest phones Apple sells directly are the third-generation iPhone SE and the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus, all of which come with a Lightning port and therefore fall foul of a regulation that comes into force in Europe in January 2025 that requires All mobile devices had a USB Type-C charging port. The company could have released an updated version of these devices with USB Type-C ports instead of Lightning, but it did not, but chose to withdraw them from sale – this fate would still have awaited them, but a little later.
For Apple, this is not such a big loss: if you believe unofficial information, in the spring of 2025 the company will release the fourth generation iPhone SE, which will receive USB Type-C, and it will largely resemble the iPhone 14 in appearance. According to Apple’s standard schedule, iPhone 14 and 14 Plus would be sold in the EU until the release of the iPhone 17, which is expected in the fall. That is, the company loses almost a year of sales of these models. Outside the EU, Apple will likely continue to sell the current iPhone SE until the updated one is released, and the iPhone 14 until the end of 2025. When the life cycle of these models ends “naturally,” Lightning on Apple devices will be finished forever.