As a USB-IF member it’s possible they don’t pay any royalties.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
'iPhone 17 Air' is Step Towards Slimmer iPhones Without USB-C Ports
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
If I were on an EU commission, a MagSafe cable is still wired charging to me. One must "snap" the phone to a magnet. No one says that MagSafe on a Mac is "wireless charging".
For me, wireless charging is only when a connection is not attached to the device in any manner, and you can pass a significant mass between them without either side being significantly disrupted.
I can't imagine buying a phone that doesn't have a physical port. It's a non-starter from me. Hard stop. I hook devices up to my iPhone, my iPad, my MacBook... The only one that I don't is my Watch - and that's pretty much a special case. I'm not likely to try and run, say, Garage Band on my Watch and want to have a headphone jack to combat Bluetooth latency.
How will I connect my hard drives?
Apple considered launching the iPhone 17 Air without a USB-C charging port, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said that while Apple ultimately decided against making the iPhone 17 Air its first iPhone model without a charging port, the idea is still on the table for future iPhone models.
He said the iPhone 17 Air will "foreshadow a move to slimmer models without charging ports."
"The iPhone 17 Air represents the beginning of a sea change for Apple," he wrote. "Apple executives say that if this new iPhone is successful, the company intends to again attempt to make port-free iPhones and move more of its models to this slimmer approach."
Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted that the first iPhone without a charging port would launch all the way back in 2021, but that did not happen. Apple has shifted from its custom Lightning port to the universal USB-C port on iPhones over the past few years, but the wait for an iPhone without a charging port at all continues.
P.S. Hopefully the iPhone 17 Air will support MagSafe, unlike the iPhone 16e.
Article Link: 'iPhone 17 Air' is Step Towards Slimmer iPhones Without USB-C Ports
Some of these developers are working in environments where everything they have is apple and the newest thing at that. In the real world we have older cars, accessories that we plug in, portable chargers, hard wired headphones, etc. USB C is such a standard that ditching it would be annoying for most people.
After being an apple fan boy since the 90's I'm starting to envy my friends who can do things like link up pretty much any smart devise to their home. Apple needs to stop trying to be an island.
After being an apple fan boy since the 90's I'm starting to envy my friends who can do things like link up pretty much any smart devise to their home. Apple needs to stop trying to be an island.
It's possible every car you look at has heated front seats but the average car does not have heated front seats by default. Of course both socioeconomics and geography play a role here as well but I can assure you heat front seats are not default in even half of cars globally.
So when it comes to "checking your data first", I'd suggest taking your own advice.
Until we move away from induction charging to true "wireless" charging, portless phones are a nonstarter for the average consumer.
It will completely rely on Siri input and you won't be able to check what it's doing. Might be a few years until it is ready though.
You definitely still can.
If you can see your phone in Finder (previously iTunes) while not connected to USB, you can do the backups. Maintaining connection from phone to Mac has become a little more glitchy over time (i.e. more recent phone/Mac OS) in my experience but it works.
That said, I plan to stick with phones that retain a physical port. The more Apple blocks me from controlling my phone and being able to update/change it without going through them, the more it feels like Apple's phone and not mine. I'd guess that a phone without a physical port that glitches or gets a bad software update would be permanently bricked.
Last edited:
I don't think it will happen (ever) due to EU regulations on requiring a physical charging port. Apple will make future iPhones with the USB Type C ports that support up to 45 watts initial charging speed.
I use small SSD’s to back up phone & iPad files, as any other method is not secure - including iCloud. If you think iCloud is, think again. AI hacking will tunnel through anything and very soon. And using an SSD Velcro’d to my phone while filming - is Apple going to take that away? And how would I make backups while traveling, where there’s no internet available? I think think my current Apple devices will be my last ones.
Unless it has changed since iOS 5, it's necessary to connect to the computer via USB once before iOS will allow WiFi sync
EU regulations do not require one, they specifically allow for wireless only charging. Only if you have a port it has to be USB-C.
Apple could use wireless to charge and a proprietary data connection and still be in compliance.
Like you would now except wirelessly instead of with a cable.
That said, I doubt Apple will completely abandon wired charging in the near future. Perhaps one fully sealed phone maybe, especially since there is a need for a wired connection, beyond just charging, for some users.
Local backups over Wi-Fi have always been hit or miss. They frequently crap out in the middle of a backup, and there’s been a years-long bug of iPhones and iPads disappearing from the Finder sidebar, so you can’t initiate the backup.
This is true, and even then the device will randomly disappear from the Finder sidebar.
love how EU forced the switch to USB-C, getting everyone to buy USB-C cables, only to throw the USB-C cables into storage after going portless.
thought USB-C mandate was supposed to be green? it just caused more ewaste
thought USB-C mandate was supposed to be green? it just caused more ewaste
The EU would probably still consider a MagSafe cable to be wired. But you can also argue that no charging method (except maybe a magnetic battery pack) is really truly wireless. They are ultimately still connected via cable to a power source. And it’s easier to use a charging iPhone connected via a MagSafe cable than to a charging pad or puck.
Edit: I was thinking @drumcat meant some MagSafe 3-capable iPhone.
Last edited:
They don't consider the Apple Watch charger to be wired, so I am pretty sure MagSafe would be fine.
They're not the same at all.
Magsafe on Mac simply uses magnets to hold the power connectors in place (and release). The power flow is through the wires.
Magsafe on phone uses magnets to hold the wireless charging puck in place (and release). The power flow is not through the wires, it's wireless from the puck to the phone.
I was thinking more along the lines of an iPhone outfitted with MagSafe 3 or some Smart Connector capable of charging, but that’s probably not what the commenter I responded to meant.