Sales ban: Apple forced to stop selling certain iPhone models

Reports are currently circulating that Apple will stop selling several iPhones in the EU. The original source is igen.fr, who has published a report on the topic based on information from its own sources. Ultimately, however, insider information is not necessary, as a glance at the law is enough: Apple will soon have to comply with the amended Radio Equipment Directive in Germany, which will come into force on December 28th and represents the implementation of the amended Radio Equipment Directive at the EU level into national law. This means that a USB-C connection is required for small electrical, wireless devices such as smartphones and tablets. From 2026, this charging standard requirement will also come into force for notebooks.

Apple is likely to be much more affected by this change in the law than many other manufacturers, as the company has stuck with the Lightning standard for a long time - most other manufacturers abandoned microUSB several years ago. The iPhone 14 and the iPhone 14 Plus are affected; Apple would normally keep these models on sale for longer. As there are already (several) successors, this more-or-less involuntary end to sales should be rather unproblematic from a product range perspective. The iPhone SE is a different story: the third-generation iPhone SE does not yet have a direct successor, which means that a cheaper iPhone is lacking in Apple's product range. According to unconfirmed information, an iPhone SE 4 will be launched on the market in spring 2025, and there have already been leaks about its features.