Apple might be forced to abandon proprietary charging cables

The days of Apple making a mint from its proprietary iPhone charging cables could be over.

Macworld reports that members of the European Parliament’s internal market committee have voted unanimously for a law that would mandate the use of universal mobile phone chargers.

The idea is to cut down on electronic waste by making all radio equipment and their chargers universal, bringing an end to what German MEP Barbara Weiler described as cable chaos”.

Apple had previously signed up to a voluntary 2009 EU agreement for all manufacturers to adopt the micro USB connector as standard but, as is evidenced by the recent release of the iPhone 5S and 5C, has clearly chosen not to fall in line with the regulations.

An iPhone 5 Lightning USB cable currently costs 25 direct from Apple. An equivalent 2M micro USB cable can be had for the princely sum of 99p on eBay, although you can stretch all the way up to a fiver if you’re feeling naughty.