Galaxy users will benefit the most from iPhone’s adoption of USB-C

Apple has finally made the shift to USB-C on the iPhone, after years of using its proprietary Lightning connector. It’s not a shift Apple made because it wants to reduce electronic waste (you could argue the switch to USB-C will increase e-waste as millions of iPhone owners will have to ditch their existing Lightning cables) or because it wants iPhone owners to have the option to charge their phone using a charger borrowed from someone who uses an Android device.

Apple has made the switch because the European Union forced its hand: EU countries will only allow phones with a USB-C port and connector to be sold to customers after December 28th, 2024. To Apple’s credit, it didn’t wait until the very last moment to ditch the Lightning connector, but again, Apple probably would have stuck with it if the European Union hadn’t made the use of USB-C mandatory by law.

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In any case, USB-C on the iPhone is a very welcome change, as now we can all share cables / chargers with each other regardless of what brand of smartphone we use. Those who are entrenched in the Apple ecosystem will also benefit, as every popular product with a fruit logo will have USB-C connectors going forward.

Now, things won’t change overnight. Not every existing iPhone owner will be upgrading to an iPhone 15 or even the iPhone 16. Still, the pieces are in place, and the number of Lightning cables in use will decrease over time until they’re no longer a thing, while the USB-C connector will live on for the foreseeable future.

And, other than iPhone users, do you know who will benefit the most from Apple’s adoption of the USB-C connector? It will be those who own a Galaxy smartphone. Yes, every Android smartphone brand uses USB-C so Galaxy users won’t be the only ones to benefit. But Samsung and Apple have a duopoly and sell the most phones globally, so Galaxy and iPhone owners will have considerably more interactions revolving around the sharing of chargers and charging cables.

Of course, just because both Galaxies and iPhones will have USB-C ports going forward, it doesn’t mean chargers shared between Apple and Samsung fans will be fully compatible with each other. They will work, but there probably won’t be any guarantees that they will provide the correct fast charging speeds, as that’s one aspect of smartphone charging that probably isn’t going to be regulated any time soon.