Apple says iPhones will finally get USB-C ports

At long last, Apple says iPhone will get USB-C ports Earlier this month, the European Union passed legislation requiring all phones and tablets sold in the EU to use USB-C charging ports by 2024. A move that has huge implications for a company like Apple, which sells iPhones with the same physical design in every region of the world. And all of these iPhones currently use Apple’s proprietary Lightning connector to charge and connect accessories.

This week Apple finally confirmed that it will be bringing USB-C ports to the iPhone. Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of world marketing, confirmed this Wall Street Journal Reporter Joanna Stern that USB-C ports are coming.

“Governments can do what they will do,” Joswiak said at this week’s WSJ Tech Live conference. “Of course we have to stick to it. We have no choice.”

Apparently, Apple isn’t exactly happy about the verdict. That’s a change the company has resisted for years. Apple’s overarching business ethos is to control every piece of its product line. That’s why the company switched from Intel chips to its own proprietary silicon and quadrupled its streaming service offerings. The goal is to keep customers under the Apple dome at all times. Having a proprietary charger on the iPhone was just another part of that strategy. This meant that iPhone users had to get these charging cables directly from Apple, rather than taking that money to another USB-C cable manufacturer.

Of course, Apple probably won’t suffer much financial damage from the death of the Lightning cable. It’ll likely be embracing USB-C within the next year, and might even happily market the new connector to reduce excess e-waste at its next flashy iPhone announcement event. Still, the forced change shows just how much the company wants to stick with its favorites, or at least change its products on its own schedule and not someone else’s.

No word yet on the fate of the Lightning connectors on the Apple Pencil, Magic Trackpad, and other Apple accessories that currently rely on the connector.

Here’s more gadget news you might have missed this week as everyone was talking about whether Elon Musk will throw Twitter into a volcano.

Apple subscriptions are getting more expensive

After announcing last week that YouTube Premium for Families is getting a price increase, Apple has increased the prices of its own streaming services. Apple Music is up a dollar to $11 a month. Apple Music family plans get a $2 increase to $17. Apple TV Plus is also up $2, costing $7 a month. Apple One will go from $15 to $17.

Many streaming services are trying to get more out of their subscribers. Netflix also recently announced that it will charge more for people who share an account between multiple users. It seems Spotify is next, with Spotify CEO Daniel Ek saying the company could soon increase the monthly price of its music streaming plan.

Press F to pay for nothing

Another year, another call of Duty Game. The latest entry in the absurdly popular military assassination franchise is out this week, and by all accounts it is very a call of Duty Game.

But, hey, you know what none is call of Duty Game? Whatever’s on the disk inside the case. Players who purchased the physical edition of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II noticed that the discs are almost empty. There’s a 72-megabyte authenticator app that sends a link to servers where you can download all 150 gigabytes of game files. That’s all that’s on the discs – none of the game files, just a key to access them. It makes the physical copy of the game essentially identical to the digital version, albeit in a pointless plastic sleeve.