“Apple will drop the ports altogether before even considering switching to USB-C on the iPhone lineup” — this running joke in the tech circle might end next year. The unreal is about to happen. According to the reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple might give us a USB Type-C port on the iPhone 15 in 2023.

In a pair of tweets, Kuo said that his latest survey indicates that Apple will drop the Lightning port in favor of the USB-C port. As The Verge points out, the “survey” could include component manufacturers, from whom Kuo seems to get a lot of his information about the future Apple products.  The switch would make things more convenient for users with multiple gadgets and also help improve iPhone’s transfer and charging speeds, depending on the iOS support.

Kuo expects to see “existing USB-C-related suppliers of Apple’s ecosystem (e.g., IC controller, connector) become the market’s focus in the next one to two years, thanks to vast orders from iPhones and accessories’ adoption of USB-C ports.”

The analyst has a reliable track record but we are still skeptical about Apple adopting USB-C for the iPhone since we’ve been hearing rumors about the idea for years. While the iPhone-maker has been hell-bent on sticking to the Lightning port, it has partly adopted the reversible USB standard with its iPad lineup and USB-C-compatible Thunderbolt ports on many Macs.

But the change could finally happen because of the pressure built by policymakers. For the unaware, the EU is considering a proposal that would make USB-C ports mandatory on various electronic items, including smartphones. The presence of a standard USB port across all electronics would mean lesser chargers and data cables as you’ll be able to charge your devices using a single type of charger.

While the EU has yet to adopt this motion, there is no reason to expect that it won’t. As and when that happens, Apple would have up to two years to shift its products into alignment if it intends on selling its iPhones in Europe (and likely, around the world too).