Yes given how much mass certainty was written when the EU "forced" iPhone to go USB-C, keying around the phrase "lint magnet"- I'd have to believe all who wrote than seemingly dozens of times would recognize that a USB-C port on the front would basically make this a tiny vacuum cleaner for pesky lint.
Of course, all this time later, I still find lint and don't see it on the endangered list... nor do I encounter any news about countless mounds of broken USB-C tongues, nor see countless numbers of iPhone repair kiosks to fix all that promised "wobbly" (port) either. So perhaps that was one big pile of nonsense or else people are sure doing a great job of hiding those tongues, disposing of that lint and getting it all done in secret repair shops well hidden from public view.