It’s no longer possible to buy an iPhone 14 or iPhone SE 3 from Apple in the EU. And many of Apple’s older accessories also disappeared from the company’s shelves in the European Union, too.
It’s all a result of a EU law that, as of Saturday, banned the sale of handsets with proprietary charging ports. Apple was a primary focus of the legislation.
iPhone SE ban: No more Lightning port in the EU
In 2022, the European Parliament passed a law that made USB-C the standard charging port across a wide range of consumer electronics. And it picked December 28, 2024 as date after which iPhone and all other handsets sold in the EU must have USB-C.
The idea is to reduce e-waste. When any of the millions of iPhone users in the EU switched to Android, the Lightning cables they used to charge the iOS handset generally ended up in the rubbish. With the new law, their old phone and their new one use the same cables.
Caught in the crosshairs of the EU regulation are the iPhone SE 3 and iPhone 14. Both use Apple’s proprietary Lightning connector, which means they can’t be sold in the EU starting on Saturday. Cult of Mac checked, and these handsets have indeed been pulled from Apple’s virtual shelves in the biggest European countries, including France.
But the legislation didn’t wipe out the company’s product lineup because, starting in 2023, the iPhone 15 and new iPhone 16 include a USB-C port, not Lightning.
Screenshots: Apple/Cult of Mac
Not only handsets
The EU law requires “all new mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, headphones and headsets, handheld videogame consoles and portable speakers, e-readers, keyboards, mice, portable navigation systems, earbuds and laptops that are rechargeable via a wired cable, operating with a power delivery of up to 100 Watts, will have to be equipped with a USB Type-C port.”
Which means that also getting the axe in the EU are Apple peripherals that use the Lightning connector, including the previous version of the Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse. Apple replaced these with USB-C versions a few months ago.
An exception is cables. Anyone European who already has a Lightning-based iPhone can still buy a charging cable for it, or a USB-A adapter.
