Interesting times ahead as European Union reached an agreement requiring all new smartphones, tablets, laptops, headphones to use a common charger by 2026. It’s slightly more complicated than that.

By 2024, all new mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, gaming devices, mice, earbuds and other portable devices will need USB-C charging ports, the European Commission has announced while by 2026, the law will apply to laptops. There are two timelines because laptop chargers are more complicated.

The decision was on the anvil for long because the idea is to make consumer lives easier — one charging cable for different types of devices and e-waste reduction because our drawers don’t need to be packed with all kinds of charging wires and bricks.

There is also another part to the ruling — companies will be required to sell devices without a charger to bring down the number of chargers in circulation.

Okay, most companies have already moved to USB-C as far as mobile phones go, except Apple, which still uses its proprietary Lighting port on iPhones as well as basic iPads. There are more than a billion iPhones around the world and every model of the iPhone released since 2012 has come with a Lightning port. Sounds like a nightmare? Not at all.

It’s not that Apple didn’t see this coming. Apple, in fact, has been one of the early champions of USB-C charging. The company went into USB-C mode in 2015 when it released a MacBook with only a single USB-C port and a headphone jack. The company has also brought USB-C to a growing number of iPads — iPad Pro as well as the recent iPad Air.

There is enough time for Apple to decide on a course of action. One involves switching to USB-C next year before the decision comes into play in 2024. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo as well as Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman have reported that Apple is already testing iPhones equipped with the connector. But will Apple play it this easy? The company has been known to innovate and make other brands follow its lead. It did away with the 3.5mm headphone jack on the iPhone 7. Rivals criticised Apple only to take the same route soon after.

Apple has a wireless technology called MagSafe charging. There is always the chance of the company deciding to kill the charging port and go completely wireless. Makes a lot of sense. Wireless charging is already supported across the iPhone line-up.

The European Union ruling will have global implications because no big brand will find it viable to have a different set-up only for Europe and another for rest of the world.