Apple’s shift from the venerable Lightning to a USB-C charging port on the iPhone and other devices is likely to be short-lived.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
Apple is set to shift from the Lightning charging port on the iPhone and other devices to USB-C to abide by a new European law, but the company is still planning on a wireless-first future.
The iPhone 15 is essentially a lock to get USB-C in the fall of 2023, beating the mandate by a year. The one remaining iPad without USB-C (the entry-level model), should be getting the port by the end of this year.
That leaves the AirPods, Magic Mouse, Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad as the lone devices that will need to eventually make the switch… I’d bet the next versions of the regular AirPods, AirPods Pro and AirPods Max all move to USB-C, and that transition should be done by 2024.
I think the USB-C era will be far shorter-lived than the tenure of the 30-pin iPod connector or Lightning… I still believe that Apple’s future is wireless and that some version of the canceled AirPower dream from 2017 will eventually come to fruition — well before a decade from now. At some point in the next few years, Apple will probably begin transitioning entirely to inductive charging on the iPhone and iPad, matching the Apple Watch.
MacDailyNews Take: Yup.
Perhaps Apple’s next big move is to go all-wireless (since you know that’s what they really want anyway). – MacDailyNews, June 12, 2018
A port-free iPhone would be perfect for significantly increasing water resistance while also saving space that could be used for more battery or other components – it’s a win-win! — MacDailyNews, December 5, 2019
All of the issues that arise with a completely sealed iPhone can be solved with a “Super Smart Connector” that features high-speed MagSafe charging and data transfer for things like older vehicles with wired CarPlay via a simple magnetic attachment. — MacDailyNews, January 16, 2020
Regardless, soon Apple’s iPhones won’t have any ports at all. As it stands even today, the Lightning port on our iPhones is a largely superfluous liquid and dust ingress point. If anything, this misguided, shortsighted EU move only hastens Apple’s move to port-free iPhones featuring even better water and dust resistance. – MacDailyNews, June 3, 2022
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