Jon Prosser: 'One portless iPhone coming next year'

By Oliver Haslam
last updated

iPhone charging port
iPhone charging port (Image credit: Joseph Keller/iMore)

What you need to know

  • Apple will reportedly release one port-free iPhone next year.
  • That's according to prolific Apple leaker Jon Prosser.
  • He also reiterated that Apple wouldn't switch to USB-C and that all iPhones would eventually be portless.

Jon Prosser has "confirmed" that Apple is planning to release one portless iPhone next year. He was responding to a tweet about iPhone 12 leaks.

In response to a tweet about iPhone 12 leaks Prosser dropped the following:

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The idea of a portless iPhone isn't a new one and we pondered it ourselves earlier this year. But would Apple really manage to ditch the humble Lightning port as soon as next year?

The requirements for that to happen are pretty daunting. Current iPhones can only charge wirelessly at a fraction of most Android phones, and even those don't charge quickly enough without using a cable. Then there's the recovery aspect of things, with Lightning to USB cables needed to bring iPhones back to life if they suffer catastrophic iOS failure.

We've heard rumors of a new remote recovery feature coming in a future update, but that would need to be tried and tested before we wave goodbye to Lightning.

This is one I won't be holding my breath on – but who am I to disagree with Jon Prosser?

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.

4 Comments
  • Wonder why they are so against USB-C in iPhones when the rest of their newer lineup has them?
  • Doesn't make a lot of sense to me either. They are certainly not opposed to USB-C, and in fact are more all in than other PC manufacturers. MacBooks are shipping with nothing but USB-C, as are iPads. The simplicity they could have with the entire line on one connector including earphone cases, headphones, etc. would seem beneficial. Imagine just needing a USB-C to USB-C cable to use your iPhone camera as a web camera for your Mac.
  • Apple might want to release a wireless charger before a wireless-charging-only phone
  • They'd have to include one if there was no way of wired charging. Selling a phone without a charger would be crossing the line