Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 17 this year, with rumours indicating an all-new 17 Air model to be included as part of the series. The latter is alleged to be the company’s slimmest model, coming in at only 5.5mm in thickness. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, among the ways the brand has attempted to maintain the phone’s thinness is apparently by considering the removal of its charging port.
Gurman states that Apple considered making the 17 Air its first “completely port-free iPhone” with wireless charging and cloud-enabled data-syncing. However, due to reasons including the European mandate on smartphones supporting USB-C connection, it was decided against.
This is not the first time Apple has been reported to work on a port-less phone. Back in 2019, known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo speculated that an iPhone without a Lightning connector would be released in 2021. “We expect that the highest-end model would cancel the [Lightning] port and provide the completely wireless experience”, he stated in a research note.
While the 17 Air model will reportedly not feature a port-less design, we may be able to see it in future models, as Gurman states that the company “intends to again attempt to make port-free iPhones and move more of its models to this slimmer approach.” With that being said, perhaps we could see a fully wire-free phone with next year’s 18 series?
(Sources: Bloomberg via TechCrunch, MacRumors)
Manisha Dharmendra contributed to this article.
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