Both the EU and China have put pressure on the handset in recent weeks. In general, smartphone sales are slowing, and Apple’s virtual reality headset – which the company seemed to be positioning as a potential future iPhone – won’t be available until 2019.

A whopping $3,500 (£2,780) will be charged when it becomes available.

As a result, we get to see the 16th generation of a device that forever changed the smartphone landscape in 2007.

It may be mature, but there are already almost five billion Google search results for the phrase “iPhone 15”, despite no official previews from Apple.

If you dive in and start reading the speculation and “leaks” buzzing around, you’ll see that the iPhone 15 models are likely to be a little lighter than their predecessors, with an improved chip, a longer battery life, a better camera and a titanium chassis. According to Apple, diversification always leads to better innovation. In addition, the company has been pushing wireless charging as an alternative for several years – all iPhones since the iPhone 8 are compatible with it.

However, the EU has had enough, and has declared that all portable devices must be compatible with universal chargers by December 2024. Even if Apple allows lightning, the rest of the consumer tech sector won’t convert.

Ben Wood says there is a booming market in second-hand iPhones, especially in Africa, so it might be worth adding that cable to your cable drawer rather than ditching it.

According to him, iPhones are reaching people who otherwise couldn’t afford them and locking them into Apple’s ecosystem.

It’s not just the EU that lays down the law. According to reports, China banned the iPhone from state-run buildings (as you can imagine, there are a lot of them).

There is less to do with the phone itself than the ongoing tech tussle between China and the US – but it affected Apple’s share price. Most Chinese use Android devices, but iPhones are the most popular premium (i.e., top-dollar) phones. You can’t use your iPhone charger for your Kindle and vice versa.