Apple will stop selling the iPhone 14 and iPhone SE in the European Union by December 28. The devices will be removed from Apple’s online and offline stores. Apple Authorized Retailers in the EU will continue to sell these iPhones until their remaining inventory is depleted.
This decision is made to comply with a new EU regulation which mandates that newly sold smartphones with wired charging must use USB-C. The iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, and iPhone SE (2022) still utilize the Lightning port, making them non-compliant with the new regulation. In addition to the iPhones, Apple will also cease the sale of other products featuring the Lightning port, such as the Magic Keyboard without Touch ID.
Interestingly, while the UK left the EU in 2020, Apple will remove products with the Lightning port from Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK. The same protocol will apply to Switzerland, where the affected devices will be removed as early as December 20. The information in this report purportedly comes from internal details Apple has shared with its relevant teams.
If Apple had followed its typical timeline, the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus would have been removed from EU markets next September. The iPhone SE is set to be replaced next year, so its early removal isn’t seen as a significant loss. As 2024 comes to an end, Apple’s popular iPhone SE will be withdrawn from key markets in Europe.
Yet fans of the mid-range iOS smartphone know that the New Year will bring them something special: a replacement iPhone SE that will be better, stronger, and faster. Apple was always going to replace the current iPhone SE when the newer model arrived. No doubt Tim Cook and his team would have preferred to keep the iPhone SE launched in 2022 on sale for another four or five months until the 2025 version arrived.
However, recent developments in consumer electronics have hastened this transition. The current iPhone SE was launched in 2022 and is powered by Apple’s A15 Bionic chip, which at the time matched the current iPhone 13 model. This allowed the SE to be pitched as an equal to the vanilla iPhone range.
The main iPhone line has been updated annually, but the iPhone SE still ships with a chip approaching three years old. With Apple relying on Apple Intelligence in its marketing campaign, it is expected that the iPhone SE will launch with support for iOS’ generative AI suite. This will require the latest A18 processor, bringing the SE brand back to parity with the main iPhone line.
In addition to the improved chipset to cope with the demands of generative AI, Apple will need to boost the memory of the iPhone SE.
Apple’s response to new EU regulations
The iPhone 16 saw a higher-than-expected increase in memory when it was launched in September 2024.
This enhancement benefited Apple Intelligence and improved the overall iOS environment—enabling faster switching between apps and providing more working memory for apps to address. The user experience of the next iPhone SE is expected to feature these improvements. Tim Cook, Apple CEO, is confident that the current wave of AI-influenced iPhones—including the upcoming iPhone SE—will have a significant potential to positively impact user lives.
“Artificial intelligence is a horizontal technology in that it will touch everything in your life over time. It will change everything because it will be like having an assistant, preparing things that would have taken you longer to do, freeing you up to spend more time following your passion.”
Apple aims to maintain the price consistency of iPhones between generations, meaning that Cook’s potential for AI integration could be available in the mid-range SE model, potentially for as little as $430. While the current iPhone SE will leave the stage in two weeks’ time, Apple is expected to launch the new iPhone SE in the first half of 2025, potentially as early as March and certainly in time for the company’s Worldwide Developer Conference in June.
Final announcements and detailed features of the new iPhone SE may be forthcoming as Apple finalizes preparations for this anticipated launch. Despite two years of advance notice, Apple appears unprepared for the imminent EU ban on the use of Lightning ports to charge smartphones. This new regulation, set to take effect in January 2025, stipulates that all mobile phones sold in the EU must support USB-C charging.
Apple has made partial strides to adapt. The flagship iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 series, launched in the fall of 2023 and 2024 respectively, comply with the new laws and will remain available in the European market. However, the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, and the third-generation iPhone SE do not meet the required standards and will be discontinued in the EU.
This decision leaves Apple without a budget-friendly smartphone option in Europe until new models are launched. Currently, the lowest-priced iPhone available starts at $699, a significant increase from the iPhone SE’s $429. For a company known for its meticulous planning, this marks a surprising oversight.
Apple’s product strategy traditionally involves offering recent series at premium prices while keeping older models on sale to attract budget-conscious consumers. The sudden absence of lower-cost models in a key market like Europe could potentially push cost-sensitive consumers towards Android alternatives. The situation could have been averted if Apple had either expedited the introduction of the fourth-generation iPhone SE or transitioned to USB-C across all its models sooner.
The delayed response seems to reflect Apple’s reluctance to shift from its proprietary Lightning standard without regulatory pressure. This miscalculation means that Apple will miss out on several months of full market presence in Europe, a gap that could benefit competitors like Google, who offer lower-cost Android devices compatible with USB-C. In conclusion, while Apple will eventually recover by aligning its entire product line with the new regulations, the company’s delayed compliance has significant short-term drawbacks.
The tech giant’s approach suggests a preference for holding onto its proprietary technology as long as possible, resulting in an unwelcome scramble as the regulation deadline looms.
