Apple is about to remove the USB-C port on the super thin iPhone model?

Rumors and speculation about Apple's upcoming product, likely to be called the iPhone 17 Air, have been ramping up in recent months. The device is expected to be the thinnest iPhone ever, replacing the Plus models in the iPhone lineup. But what's even more special is that the iPhone 17 Air could usher in a new era for Apple's portless iPhones.

According to Apple expert Mark Gurman (Bloomberg), Apple is considering removing the USB-C port on the upcoming iPhone 17 Air, making it the company's first smartphone without a charging port in particular and in the commercial market in general.

If this is true, users will have no choice but to rely entirely on wireless charging. But in return, we will have a thinner, lighter and more refined device. In addition, data syncing with iCloud will be the only way to access information.

The iPhone has long used the Lightning port for charging and data transfer. However, Apple switched to USB-C with the iPhone 15 series—largely due to regulatory pressure from the European Union (EU)—and may eventually remove all ports from the iPhone in the coming years. Given these legal constraints, it’s possible that Apple will have to keep the USB-C port on the iPhone 17 Air to avoid running into trouble with EU regulators and many other countries.

While a bold move like removing the charging port from a device would be controversial for Apple, if the company goes ahead with it, it could soon become an industry standard, and other manufacturers will follow suit. Remember when Apple removed the 3.5mm headphone jack in 2016 with the iPhone 7, many competitors, industry experts, and even customers criticized Apple for the change. But it didn’t take long for other companies to follow suit, and now it’s hard to find a smartphone with a headphone jack on the market.

It seems like Apple’s customer base is ready for this change, too. Apple has experimented with the idea of ​​relying entirely on wireless charging with the Apple Watch line, and they could do the same for the iPhone.

Except for the Air variant, the other models in the iPhone 17 series are expected to retain the USB-C port. Gurman revealed that Apple executives have stated that if the new iPhone 17 Air is successful, more portless and thinner iPhones could appear in the coming years.