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The iPhones of the Future May Be Wireless, Portless and Buttonless (cnet.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the wireless-future dept.

The first iPhone to shed its headphone jack was the iPhone 7, which launched in late 2016. Now it seems like the Lightning port may be the next to go. CNET reports: Apple has considered removing the Lightning port on the iPhone X, according to Bloomberg, citing unnamed "people familiar with the company's work." While earlier rumors suggested that Apple would remove the Lightning port in favor of USB-C, Apple's goal may be to remove all ports entirely.

Bloomberg's report is about the challenges that Apple faces with its AirPower wireless charger, but it also shares some details about Apple's vision for a wireless future. The report says: "Apple designers eventually hope to remove most of the external ports and buttons on the iPhone, including the charger, according to people familiar with the company's work. During the development of the iPhone X, Apple weighed removing the wired charging system entirely. That wasn't feasible at the time because wireless charging was still slower than traditional methods. Including a wireless charger with new iPhones would also significantly raise the price of the phones."

9 of 249 comments (clear)

  1. So people find their phones still usable... by Kenja · · Score: 4, Insightful

    and they want to fix that?

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    1. Re:So people find their phones still usable... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The Fairphone 2 doesn't seem like a good deal I'm afraid.

      The price is â530, which is a lot more than flagships from companies like OnePlus and Xaomi. You get Android 6.0 and no sign of regular updates, a mediocre camera and a removable battery. So really the only major benefit is the removable battery, and in practice it's not difficult to replace the battery in a OnePlus or even most of the non-Apple flagships.

      Replacement parts are a nice idea, but you have to compare that to buying a phone that costs half as much and replacing it twice as often. Even with replacement parts this thing won't last forever.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    2. Re:So people find their phones still usable... by jellomizer · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Why do you think that. Because of random slashdot comments from guys who are still pissed that the GUI overtook the command line interface.
      Or the fact that you can’t use do software development on it?
      Apple has grown by leaps and bounds from the release of the iPhone.
      Even with competition with Android who makes a really competitive and popular products apple is able to hold its own.
      I haven’t seen a new PC in a while with serial, parallel ports. I haven’t seen a tape interface port in generations.

      Why would we want ports on our phone when they are useful wireless alternatives.

      The device is useful for its intended purpose

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
  2. Fantastic! by TiberiusKirk · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Until a bug is introduced in firmware and a factory reset is required.
    Or you get nailed by malware that takes over your phone, and there is literally no way to reset the fucking thing!

  3. Re: HaHa... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Wireless, Portless and Buttonless or in a word ... very Useless

  4. What about charging away from home/office? by mfearby · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It might be good to have wireless charging ability at home but what about when you're "on the go" and just need to connect to a cable somewhere to charge your phone, and there's no special Apple wireless charger?

    Sorry, Apple, but my Samsung Galaxy S8 (which I bought to replace an iPhone last year) is far superior to your feature-stripped strait jackets.

  5. Re: HaHa... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Wireless, Portless and Buttonless or in a word ... very Useless

    Watching tens of millions of people line up to buy this hardware, or in a word from the CFO....very Priceless.

  6. Re:They would be more waterproof by user32.ExitWindowsEx · · Score: 3, Insightful

    A voice operated phone.....operators will make a comeback.
    Then hipsters will demand actual human operators connect their calls.

    --
    "Evil will always triumph because good is dumb." -- Dark Helmet
  7. What about forgetting your charger? by Tomahawk · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How many times have you gone on holiday, opened your case, and found you didn't pack your charger? If you were lucky, you packed a spare cable, so all you needed was something with a USB connection and you could charge your phone. At worst, a trip to a shop that sold cables.

    Remove cable charging, and now you're needed to buy a full wireless charger. Or visit Starbucks every morning for 2 hours while you slowly sip away at a long-gone-cold coffee.

    And then what about those people who still use wired headphones using the adapter that comes in the box... oh yeah, sorry, I forgot that you sell expensive wireless headphones that you want to force people to have to buy also. Silly me.

    Copying data to your PC? Or another phone? Getting a charge boost from another phone (like you can [seemingly] on USB-C devices)? In-car adapters? Peripherals?

    My last few phones all had wireless charging. I rarely used it. Lately I was even thinking about why this tech is added to phones as it just increases the cost and provides, at least to me, no benefit. I'm not sure I'd like being forced to have to only use wireless charging. Plus you know that they'll change the wireless charging technology in 2 iterations time, making those 2 spare charges you bought when on holidays useless.

    At least you can buy another one on your next trip away...