Unified charging interface may cost Apple tens of billions a year: iPhone 14 will become a lightning interface swan song
Recently, a new regulation by the European Union to unify the charging interface has put Apple on the cusp. Luo You, a researcher at the Star Map Financial Research Institute, believes that Apple has always been an opponent of a unified charging interface, and there are complex reasons behind it.
It is reported that the Lightning interface was born in 2012, and both positive and negative use can work normally. At that time, the introduction of this interface was undoubtedly a big improvement. But in the past ten years, with the rapid development of data transmission technology, Apple still insists on using this interface.
One of the reasons given by Apple is that forcing the industry to adopt the same charging specification through administrative orders will hinder innovation, and it should let the market choose which charging interface to use. Multiple charging specifications and protocols may be developed in the future. More, More advanced charging equipment; second, environmental protection, the existing Lighting accessories are not compatible with general standards, and there are still a large number of peripheral devices in the music field such as musical instrument tuning peripherals, DJ peripherals, etc. on the market, and Old Apple stock device.
Once the new charging interface is switched, these devices are bound to be abandoned, and some charging devices will also face elimination, causing harm to the environment; other reasons may include that the Type-C interface is larger than that of Lighting, which is very expensive for consumer electronics. It will take up internal space, and the mold also needs to be replaced, which is not worth the loss.
According to the analysis, the more important reason for Apple’s move is that this industry chain alone has brought huge benefits to Apple. By charging MFi (Made For iOS) authorization and certification fees, the annual profit may exceed 10 billion yuan. RMB, so Apple will not give up such a huge cake, which may be the most important and deeper reason.
In this regard, some netizens said: “Apple is all about environmental protection. Isn’t it just to make money by selling high-priced and low-profile chargers?” “For profit, regardless of user experience” “It is a bit far-fetched to say that it is for environmental protection. The name of environmental protection has shrunk too much.” “I hope that China will also notify Apple that the Type-C port must be changed to be sold.”
The latest news shows that Apple will not wait until the last possible moment, and the iPhone 14 series should be the last product with a Lightning interface in the family.