The iPhone 14 Is Unlikely to Be Portless, Here's Why

[Dan From Canada]

CarPlay wasn’t mentioned, but that’s probably one of the most important features people would lose.

I just purchased a new vehicle that doesn’t have wireless CarPlay so the chance of me buying a portless phone is pretty well zero.

Where I live we have long stretches of cold weather and wireless earbuds of any kind stop working after a few minutes.

I have to use wired earbuds when I head out for my daily walks. A portless phone would be the end of listening to podcasts while walking.

 

[Damian83]

I've read in a few places that wireless charging increases the speed of battery degradation over time. If that's true (I'm no engineer, so rely on smarter heads to correct me) that would be another hurdle to overcome before killing off the port.

i've read the same, however i know that charging a battery slower degradates battery slower, and wireless charging is slow... In fact all those trendy super mega fast chargings are made only to let people replace batteries faster... so:

wireless charging = less battery life
and
wireless charging = slower battery charging
but
slower battery charging = more battery life

the equation is wrong so can anyone explain it?

Anyway, i'm against the removing of ports, in fact if there will be an usb-c iphone, it will replace my iphone 8 (finally), however i'm curious if the wireless charging really damages batteries

 

[anthogag]

iPhone 14 may not be port-less but they're surly working hard on it. iPhone 15 might be port-less. I anticipate a port-less iPhone.

I thought Apple devices already use WiFi for file transfer between devices. AirDrop seems to be fast for transferring many files at once. Is it using WiFi...

I charge my iPhone 13 Pro Max overnight on a Nomad wireless charger. The iPhone lasts all day.

To restore a bricked iPhone doesn't need a physical connection if wireless is designed for it. A separate function.

 

[w5jck]

If they take away the port and all the buttons, I'm switching away from iPhones. I don't want to, but I refuse to accept that level USELESS form over function from those idiots. Buttons make operation a lot easier than hand gestures. Speaking of which, I have a hand gesture up right now to Apple for even considering such a stupid move. So I hope this is just another BS prediction by morons who quite frankly don't know their backsides from a hole in the ground...

 

[AppleTO]

This has already been solved with devices like carplay2air and the like. I’m honestly shocked apple hasn’t already come out with such a device of their own. I added wireless CarPlay to my 2017 Honda Civic with this years ago

Those are all hacking devices. There is no legal way for a third party device to output the CarPlay protocol. If Apple made a first party wireless dongle, I might reconsider.

 

[anthogag]

If they take away the port and all the buttons, I'm switching away from iPhones. I don't want to, but I refuse to accept that level USELESS form over function from those idiots. Buttons make operation a lot easier than hand gestures. Speaking of which, I have a hand gesture up right now to Apple for even considering such a stupid move. So I hope this is just another BS prediction by morons who quite frankly don't know their backsides from a hole in the ground...

So much hostility.

Wireless is much better than wired for iPhone.

Wireless earbuds are much better than the annoying cord.

Wireless charging is much better than plugging the cord.

AirDrop is much better than using the cord for file transfer.

The way I use my iPhone 13 Pro Max right now is pretty much port-less.

 

[MadGoat]

This would be a huge blow to MIDI and other peripherals, like FLIR camera attachments.

 

[rovex]

Insane if they keep lighting again

 

[ikir]

The wireless speed charging is nosense. Even with 12/15W speed the charge is pretty fast and 99% of times users will charge with it overnight.

 

[Morgenland]

Why are you acting like WiFi 6 doesn't exist?

wifi6e is a lame duck compared to lightning and is only the best compromise for the future glasses interface.

 

[4jasontv]

This would be a huge blow to MIDI and other peripherals, like FLIR camera attachments.

I am not sure that Apple will abandon long-term goals because of a minor inconvenience to niche hobbies.

 

[ja']

I just purchased a new vehicle that doesn’t have wireless CarPlay so the chance of me buying a portless phone is pretty well zero.

can i interest you in a dongle?

 

[iBreatheApple]

From where is this long time goal derived?

 

[4jasontv]

wifi6 is a lame duck compared to lighning

Lighting is unreliable and the tethered solution is a point of obsolescence. Long-distance wireless power and data have the potential to remove batteries entirely. That's good for everyone. Lower device weights, fewer materials in landfills, and more resources for devices that require onboard battery storage.

 

[jimbobb24]

The energy inefficiency of induction is a physics issue. While some marginal gains can be made it is still going to be a huge waste of energy.

Also this article is weird. Bluetooth? Who would ever consider Bluetooth when we have wifi?

 

[jimbobb24]

Lighting is unreliable and the tethered solution is a point of obsolescence. Long-distance wireless power and data have the potential to remove batteries entirely. That's good for everyone. Lower device weights, fewer materials in landfills, and more resources for devices that require onboard battery storage.

Unreliable? What?

 

[Morgenland]

Why do away with something that was always perfect? I really don't understand the idea technically and customer-oriented. And workarounds (e.g. wireless charging) are always just compromises. For what...

Wireless Charging Is a Disaster Waiting to Happen

We crunched the numbers on just how inefficient wireless charging is — and the results are pretty shocking

debugger.medium.com

 

[Borjan]

It’ll happen eventually, whether it’s in the 14 is the only debatable bit.

To complain about ditching iPhones when this happens makes you all look like luddites.

“How could they take away the floppy drive?!?”

Progress is going to happen whether you like it or not. Enjoy your android phone with a charging port in 203X while I’m wirelessly charging my iphone any time I’m inside my house from my pocket, real time syncing to any other Apple device and it’s got no physical points of failure.

 

[4jasontv]

Unreliable? What?

Lighting cables are more likely to break than the heart of a Hallmark Channel protagonist.

 

[Morgenland]

It’ll happen eventually, whether it’s in the 14 is the only debatable bit.

To complain about ditching iPhones when this happens makes you all look like luddites.

“How could they take away the floppy drive?!?”

Progress is going to happen whether you like it or not. Enjoy your android phone with a charging port in 203X while I’m wirelessly charging my iphone any time I’m inside my house from my pocket, real time syncing to any other Apple device and it’s got no physical points of failure.

It is always difficult to argue physics of energy efficient power transmission when some hip science fiction enthusiastic utopians (progress) simply lack the technical basis of understanding absolutely.

 

[MallardDuck]

Um, lightning is USB 3.1, not 2.0. 2.0 speeds would be a major regression.

Syncing 500-1000GB of content over any wireless connection just isn't realistic (especially with the still brain-dead syncing code they use). Why make devices with big storage if you can't get stuff on and off efficiently?

 

[MallardDuck]

Lighting cables are more likely to break than the heart of a Hallmark Channel protagonist.

Not remotely my experience....unless the cat pulls the phone off and it lands on the connector.

 

[MallardDuck]

Same here. I want to swap the radio in my wife’s car and I’ll get one with wireless car play for her.

Just make sure you still have a charging cable. GPS+wireless carplay = lousy battery life

 

[4jasontv]

Not remotely my experience....unless the cat pulls the phone off and it lands on the connector.

Either you are Gladstone Gander or you don't use your phone while it's charging.

 

[imageWIS]

And that's not the only eco-problem Apple would be inviting upon itself by going portless. Speaking out in 2020 against EU deliberations on requiring a universal port across all mobile devices, Apple said that removing the Lightning port from the ‌iPhone‌ would "create an unprecedented amount of electronic waste." It's not hard to see how this line of argument could be turned against Apple if it launched a portless ‌iPhone‌ in 2022. It would make millions of existing Lightning cables, charging docks, and other adapters in the wild obsolete overnight and ready for the trash.

Given Apple's stance on right-to-repair, and the fact that they want you to replace your whole device instead of repairing it has demonstrably proven that Apple only pays lip-service to environmentalism and its actions are wholly against it.