Apple will change the charging connector to USB Type-C already in the next-generation iPhone

It is highly probable that the next-generation iPhone will receive a USB Type-C port for charging.
The reason for that will be the law passed in the EU prescribing to equip smartphones, tablets and other electronics sold in the EU exclusively with USB Type-C ports.
Given the size of the market in the region, Apple will have to make concessions and abandon the proprietary Lightning.Image source: Solen Feyissa/unsplash.comThe law was approved by the European Parliament on Tuesday and mandates the transition to unified charging by the end of 2024.According to Ben Wood, senior analyst at CCS Insight, Apple will have to \"inevitably\" capitulate and move to USB Type-C in the iPhone 15.
The expert predicts that since the interface change has already taken place in the case of the MacBook and iPad Pro, the transition process has actually already begun.
Since the iPhone 14 did not bring significant changes in terms of design, more significant updates are likely to follow in the iPhone 15 - this will be the best time to implement the new port.Back in May, Bloomberg reported on the tests of the iPhone with USB Type-C, but sources warned that the novelties will not appear before 2023.
The IDC believes that if Apple switched to USB Type-C for Europe in 2023, the U.S.
tech giant will switch to a new type of charging and the iPhone in other regions - unless the company decides that too much money is made on proprietary chargers and accessories to simply give them up.
Nevertheless, experts believe that Apple is actually already preparing for the transition in the next two years.The European law was developed about 10 years.
European lawmakers argue that the use of different standards for charging contributes to the growth of waste, and the innovations will allow customers not to buy a new charger with each new smartphone.According to Wood, it is a \"victory for common sense\".
While Apple fans have a huge number of devices that charge from the Lightning connector, given the ubiquity of USB Type-C, Apple's use of this standard makes a lot of sense.

Intel Claims Hundreds of Millions of Dollars in Interest on Cancelled Antitrust Penalty

Several years after being fined $1.2 billion for anticompetitive behavior in the EU, Intel has not only successfully challenged it, but is claiming interest on that amount for all past years - to the tune of $623.5 million.
Image source: IntelThe five-year investigation, which ended in 2009, determined that Intel was caught engaging in \"noncompetitive\" activity from October 2002 to December 2007, resulting in a record fine for the chipmaker.
In January this year, after years of appeals, the tech giant finally managed to cancel the fine.
At the same time, the American manufacturer does not intend to rest on its laurels and demands to recover financial compensation for the illegal punishment from Brussels.According to the latest data, Intel has applied to the European Court of Justice with a claim for compensation with interest.
Intel believes that the company is owed more than half of the fine, based on an analysis of the refinancing rate of the EU Central Bank - at the time of the fine approval it was 1.25%, and for the 12 years since then has increased significantly.
In addition, the manufacturer demands compensation for delays in payment.The scandal that affected business structures, residents of the European Union and Intel continues to this day.
The company was accused of providing partners such as Dell, HP and Lenovo with discounts for the preferential use of its processors in their computers to the detriment of competing manufacturers of chips, in particular - AMD.
In addition, Intel was accused of paying German retailer Media Saturn Holding for refusing to sell computers that used competitors' components.Image source: IntelIn 2009, it was decided that such \"discounts\" significantly reduced the room for maneuver for Intel competitors, resulting in fewer alternatives for users and reduced incentives for competitors to innovate.Intel vigorously appealed the decision.
And while in 2012 the appeal was rejected, in 2014 the company reached the highest instance - the so-called European Court of Justice, which in 2017 returned the case to the European Court of Common Pleas for reconsideration.
In January, after more than a decade of litigation, the court sided with Intel, calling the previous analysis of the company's behavior incomplete and acknowledging that it could not establish a legal standard under which the discounts in this case could have an \"anticompetitive\" effect.Nevertheless, the European Commission is not about to give up.
In April, it announced that it would appeal against the court's decision to cancel the fine.
At present, the appeal proceeding is ongoing.

TSMC will build plants in the U.S.and Japan, but not yet in Europe

The largest manufacturer of semiconductor products - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) today announced that there are no definite plans to build plants in Europe.
The information came amid repeated attempts by the EU to attract Taiwanese companies to manufacture semiconductors in the European region.Image source: Brian Kostiuk/pixabay.comWith many industries suffering from chip shortages around the world, Taiwan and the EU held talks last week about cooperation, one of the key points of which was the possibility of interaction in the semiconductor market.
In February, the EU introduced the so-called European Chips Act, which lists Taiwan as one of the \"like-minded partners\" with whom Europe would like to cooperate.
TSMC, the world's largest contract chip maker and Asia's most valuable publicly traded company, said a year ago that it was engaged in an initial assessment of expansion into Germany, but there has been no real progress so far.
\"We have relatively fewer customers in Europe, but we're still evaluating and still don't have concrete plans,\" company chairman Mark Liu said at the annual shareholder meeting.It is known that TSMC has allocated $12 billion to build factories in the United States and is building a joint site with Sony Group in Japan -- they should help neutralize a global chip shortage.
It has already noted that the plants in the U.S.
will cost the company a little more expensive than expected.Additionally, TSMC said that this year the company's revenue should grow by about 30%, which contributes to the ongoing chip shortages and rising prices for semiconductors.

Tesla Supercharger stations are now available in the UK, Spain, Sweden, Belgium and Austria to charge any electric vehicle

Tesla is expanding the presence of \"open\" Supercharger charging stations in Europe - not only Tesla electric vehicles, but also traction batteries of other manufacturers' cars can be charged at them.
While previously a similar program operated at some Supercharger stations in the Netherlands, Norway and France, now Tesla charging stations have become available to everyone in the UK, Spain, Sweden, Belgium and Austria.Image source: johnjakob/pixabay.comSince last year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has talked about expanding the program to charge any electric vehicles at Tesla stations in the United States, but how the project will be implemented is not yet reported.
There, local Superchargers use Tesla proprietary ports, while Europe uses the CCS2 standard, which supports most local electric vehicles - in accordance with local laws.
What's more, North American electric vehicles, for the most part, have CCS1 charging ports, and variants like the Nissan Leaf have CHAdeMO charging ports.Residents of European countries participating in the pilot program can find compatible charging stations in the Tesla app.
If a user owns both a Tesla and another electric vehicle, they can search the app for the right Supercharger for each type.
In addition to the electricity fee, owners of third-party vehicles will have to pay an additional fee, which is also listed in the app.

The EU authorities have already subjected Elon Musk to regional laws in case he buys Twitter

The deal on Elon Musk's purchase of the social network Twitter has not yet happened, but European Commissioner Thierry Breton, as explained by Reuters, has visited the new Tesla headquarters in Texas, where he took a written commitment from the head of the company to subject Twitter activities to the European Digital Services Act.
In addition to regulating the dissemination of inaccurate and harmful information, this law includes a ban on advertising aimed at children and similar materials created using the religious, gender or political beliefs of potential customers.
During his meeting with Breton, Elon Musk expressed his solidarity with the main provisions of European law regulating digital services companies.