Rumors began to circulate at the end of 2019 that Apple was mulling the development of port-free iPhones, which could be released as early as 2021.
Going portless entirely? The company has already done so on devices like the Apple Watch or the HomePod. Surely, though, the iPhone will always need a port. Or will it? More recently, it’s started to seem as though this speculation isn’t as far-fetched as some have initially thought.
One of the biggest reasons given on why Apple can’t go entirely port-less on the iPhone was the need to fall back to a hardware connection in the eventuality that a device is bricked and needs to be restored. However, the iOS 13.4 beta released just this week contains references to a hidden OS Recovery mode that appears to be designed to work wirelessly.
The European Union has once again started down the road of proposing a mandated universal charging cable for smartphones… There arises the question of whether Apple eliminating all ports from its iPhone might enable it to make an end-run around those regulations. After all, if you don’t need to plug a cable into the device to charge it, then what type of connector the phone has is moot.
MacDailyNews Take: Bring it on! Perfectly sealed, virtually waterproof, and totally wireless would be great! Port-free is how we use our iPhones today anyway. With wireless CarPlay (in supported vehicles or via inexpensive third-party adapters), we haven’t plugging anything into that Lightning port at the bottom of our current iPhones – ever. It might as well not even be there, collecting pocket lint for no good reason.