If you have a newer iPhone, you would know that Apple changed their charging cables. The type of cable used previously since 2012 was the Lightning cable, a proprietary connector created by Apple for Apple products. By the mid-2010s, pretty much all phone manufacturers that weren’t Apple switched away from the traditional Micro USB and USB-B cables for their phones to the new USB-C, a universal way of charging & data transfer. USB-C was well designed and efficient for phone charging. More than just phones used it, laptops and other technology did too. It wasn’t until 2023 when Apple finally ditched their outdated Lightning cables for their phones. In classic Apple stubbornness, the change was done by force from the European Union. All phones sold in the EU must use USB-C. Apple decided to just change the connector world-wide because it would be easier for them.
However, recently there was a leak regarding Apple removing the charging port all together. The EU approved it because the USB-C restriction only applies to devices that can be charged with a cable. So, it is very possible that Apple’s phones will be charged exclusively with wireless chargers. For the moment, it seems like this cordless iPhone would be a separate variant from the others (iPhone Air). Apple is sort of a leader historically when it comes to changing key aspects of phones, the most infamous being the removal of the headphone jack and the physical home button. I predict that this change from Apple will send ripples throughout the rest of the phone world, and several phone manufacturers will partially or fully remove their charging ports as well.
Although wireless charging seems cool and the future, there are some drawbacks. According to Anker, a technology company, wireless charging generates more heat and is generally slower. In my personal experience, wireless charging is more annoying to deal with than wired charging because I have to keep my phone in one place and can not use it very comfortably. Another drawback is data backup. iCloud, Apple’s cloud storage solution, is the premier way of backing up your iPhone to the cloud. With the removal of a charging port, locally backing up your iPhone’s data to another device will become a lot harder & slower, as the only option would be Bluetooth. This change will also force users to use wireless headphones, such as Apple’s Airpods.