In its quest to create the ultimate streamlined products, Apple sure loves getting rid of ports. When it came to the development of the iPhone X, however, it temporarily toyed with an idea that would have made ditching the 3.5mm headphone jack pale into insignificance.
At least, that’s according to a new report which claims Apple considered getting rid of wired charging completely for its 2017 iPhone, in favor of embracing its vision of a wireless future.
In the end, Apple reportedly got cold feet about the idea, due to wireless charging being slower than traditional methods of charging. Apple also knew that doing this would have meant including a wireless charger with new iPhones, something that would “significantly” raise the price of the phones.
Considering that AirPower, Apple’s multi-device wireless charger, is only likely to ship some time in calendar Q3 — around one year after it was first announced — this could also have conceivably caused delays in shipping the iPhone X.
Days are numbered?
The factoid about the iPhone X was part of a larger Bloomberg story about Apple’s AirPower charger, which we wrote about yesterday. It’s significant, though, because there’s a good chance that this means the days of wired charging for the iPhone are numbered.
While there have been plenty of Apple-led innovations over the years that didn’t wind up materializing (a patent for a joystick embedded in the iPhone home button, anyone?), we wouldn’t be at all surprised to see this turn up in a future Apple device in the next few years.
The big question, of course, is whether this would turn out to be a good move on Apple’s part. The removal of the charging port is the removal of another possible failure point for the iPhone. It’s also likely that, as has happened with previous Apple-led innovations, once it debuted on the iPhone, other manufacturers would be eager to follow suit. But the backlash would absolutely have been heard around the world.
Would you be happy to see Apple abandon wired charging for the iPhone? Let us know in the comments below.
