Tony Fadell, one of the creators of the iPod and the iPhone, has a very strong opinion on the current policy of Apple. He no longer works for the apple brand, and that leaves him free rein to issue criticism. He shared his opinion on Twitter regarding the obligation to use USB-C in iPhones from 2024.
Although his name is unknown to the general public, Tony Fadell is nonetheless a voice that counts in the small world of high-tech. His CV is impressive, since in addition to having designed the iPod, the first generations of iPhone and Nest thermostats, the man has filed no less than 300 patents and was included in the list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2014.
Me Fadell has an excellent knowledge of the inner workings of Apple; he has, after all, contributed to the success of the brand for almost ten years. He no longer has a link with the Cupertino company, but that does not prevent him from frequently expressing his opinion about his former employer. The man recently spoke out on the European Commission’s decision to impose the USB-C port for all smartphones from 2024. A directive that hits Apple hard, since it forces the American giant to abandon the port. Lightning.
According to him, Apple has a monopoly situation, the European Union is right to impose the universal charger
The entrepreneur expressed his opinion on this at the invitation of a Twitter member. The latter asked him if the iPod would have had the same success if the EU had forced Apple to use a USB 1.0 socket, rather than FireWire. In response to this question, Me Fadell stated that the whole world is converging to USB-C and that the Commission is forcing Apple to do the right thing. Like many other observers, he believes that Apple occupies a quasi-monopoly position and abuses it. A situation that requires the intervention of the authorities to rebalance the balance in favor of consumers. In his own words, “Companies don’t always want to do what’s in everyone’s best interest”.
It’s well known, Apple hates adopting the same standards than other companies. It gladly creates its own sockets and connectors, and since 2020, even manufactures its own processors, the M1 chips. This proliferation of accessories is however very harmful to the environment. The ecological argument used by the European Commission to impose the adoption of the USB socket is unstoppable. If Apple appealed, its entire image as an environmentally conscious company would suffer.
