A smartphone without external ports would definitely shake up the current landscape and raise a few questions about smartphone functionality and how we charge our devices. According to Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, this could be in the works for the rumored iPhone 17 Air. A phone that would be port-free, remember there’s not a headphone jack on the current generation of iPhone either.
Removing the ports might be one way to make the device thinner, but it does come with questions. Would users be happy with a wireless charging-only option? So far, wireless charging isn’t as quick as wireline charging, so that’s something to consider. Would users be satisfied not being able to interchange chargers with devices as we can with USB C devices? We’re returning to a proprietary Apple charging method similar to how we did Lightning cables before Apple adopted USB C well after everyone else had done so.
An iPhone without ports would lock you into the iCloud ecosystem for many file transfers, a win for Apple as well. It’s important to remember Apple didn’t choose to migrate to USB C willingly; the EU first mandated a USB C standard, which forced the hand of Apple to make the change. We’ll have to wait to see if the iPhone Air becomes real, and if Apple makes the leap to a phone without ports.
