One of Apple’s top executives has admitted the company will start putting a USB-C charging port on the iPhone.

Following a recent EU ruling to mandate a common charging standard, Apple looks set to abandon the proprietary Lightning connector it has used since 2012.

‘We have no choice – as we do around the world, [Apple will] comply with local laws,’ confirmed Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing.

Joswiak was speaking onstage at the WSJ Tech Live Conference in California and repeated Apple’s long-held feelings on the matter.

‘We think it would have been better environmentally and better for our customers to not have a government be that prescriptive,’ he said.

The iPhone maker has repeatedly pointed out there are billions of Lightning cables out in the wild and forcing a move to USB-C would make them obsolete.

However, the writing has been on the wall for some time. The iPhone is Apple’s last gadget to retain the Lightning port as both the MacBook and iPad have adopted USB-C charging.

Still, it’s a rare public acknowledgement of defeat from the world’s most valuable tech company.

‘It’s been a great connector and over a billion people have it already,’ Joswiak told the audience.

When he was asked how Apple will start integrating USB-C into the iPhone, he wouldn’t offer specifics. ‘The Europeans are the ones dictating timing for European customers,’ he said.

The EU’s directive, which was approved earlier this month, says that manufacturers must adopt USB-C by the end of 2024.

‘Under the new rules, consumers will no longer need a different charger every time they purchase a new device, as they will be able to use one single charger for a whole range of small and medium-sized portable electronic devices,’ the European Parliament said in a press release.

‘Regardless of their manufacturer, 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.’

EU industry chief Thierry Breton has previously said the move would save around €250 million (£213 million) for consumers and reduce mountains of E-waste.

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