Lately, speculation has intensified around the expected iPhone 17 Air launch. So while a portless iPhone is not happening this year, it no longer seems like a distant possibility.
However, beyond the understandable initial shock of seeing a portless phone, a closer look suggests the move makes a lot more sense from a corporate, profit-driven perspective rather than from a user convenience standpoint.
Yet another proprietary standard
In its current state, a portless iPhone would mean one thing: a device you can charge exclusively via MagSafe. And you know what MagSafe is? Yep — a proprietary standard, just like the Lightning port we were so happy to get rid of. And its proprietary nature makes it a potential gold mine for Apple and a headache for users.
MagSafe is not inherently evil. Apple deserves a lot of credit for basically making magnetic wireless charging the standard in the industry that others still have trouble catching up to. And personally, I love using MagSafe in the car — it's incredibly convenient.
But apart from that use case, there is no real advantage to MagSafe. And I'm sorry, Apple, but I don't live in my car, so I still need my wired charging. For the vast majority of people, it makes no difference whether you have a MagSafe charger by your bedside or whether you plug your phone to a cable. Of course, there are some folks who would argue otherwise — and that's fine — until the voice of that minority pushes to rob the rest of us of our preferred way of charging.
However, in this article I want to highlight another aspect of a MagSafe-only iPhone: the profiteering of it.
You might underestimate the problem of MagSafe charger cost, but it's real.
Apple's new 25W MagSafe charging puck costs $40. However, this does not include the power adapter. Apple requires at least a 30W power brick in order for you to get the full MagSafe charging speed, and such a power adapter costs an additional $30, which makes your total cost around $70.
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That is not a small amount, but you can argue that it's not a big one either for... some people living in the developed world. However, remember that this is an expense that a billion people have to face in a future where the world has to transition to portless phones. All of a sudden, we are looking at Apple pocketing $70 billion off of that transition.
Does that sound like a small sum to you?
No third-party accessories
No 25W MagSafe options from third-party makers and the older ones are very expensive (Screenshot from Nomad's online shop)
Of course, an expensive Apple wireless charger is nothing new. The company is known for selling premium products after all.
A few years back, we were all outraged by Apple's Thunderbolt 4 Pro Cable, priced at an insane $160. While that could be somewhat justified by the quality of the cable, other Apple products like the infamous "Apple Polishing Cloth" cost way too much with no justification. No wonder they've become a meme! That cloth cost $19 and it was nothing different than your typical soft microfiber cloth. However, because of that Apple branding, it costs way more than other non-branded cloths do.
Okay, so you can argue that an expensive wireless charger by Apple would not be much of a problem when third-party accessory makers can step in and undercut Apple with cheaper accessories. Problem solved, right?
Wrong. Not with MagSafe.
You can buy a decent budget phone for the price of some MagSafe chargers
With the iPhone 16 series, Apple improved MagSafe charging speeds to 25 watts, basically matching the wired charging speed. But six months later, NO OTHER accessory maker has released a 25W MagSafe charging puck. None!
We don't know the exact reason for that. Chances are that making a fast wireless charger like that is complex and Apple might also have some patents in the field that others don't (we are speculating here). Whatever the reason, it's become abundantly clear that an ecosystem of cheap third-party 25W MagSafe chargers is not happening.
And even when you look at the ecosystem of slower, 15W MagSafe chargers, there are only a few options and most of those are very expensive.
Belkin's 3-in-1 MagSafe charger costs a mind-boggling $120. Nomad's chargers are even pricier. Heck, you can buy a good budget phone for the price of some of these chargers!
User hostile
You don't get much free space by killing the USB-C port, but you lose a whole lot of convenience (Image by iFixit)
When a company decides to kill a beloved feature for a new one which is less convenient and more expensive, I call this a user-hostile move.
The only real benefit of removing the USB-C port? Freeing up a tiny bit of space, and maybe making the iPhone a hair thinner. We've seen this playbook before. The last time that happened with the 3.5mm headphone jack, we were promised progress, but we saw no real advances in battery life or functionality.
I'm sure the crack marketing team at Apple could give this one a different spin, if it indeed goes through. Something 'brave' and 'courageous', practice shows.
For now, a portless iPhone remains a rumor. The earliest we could see it is 2026, and it might only arrive to the forthcoming 'Air' series. It might also all fade away, like so many rumors.
However, if this indeed goes through, it's hard for me to look at this as innovation. To me, this would not be pushing technology forward — it would be about stripping users of choice, forcing them into a more expensive standard with dubious benefits apart from "looking cool".
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Victor, a seasoned mobile technology expert, has spent over a decade at PhoneArena, exploring the depths of mobile photography and reviewing hundreds of smartphones across Android and iOS ecosystems. His passion for technology, coupled with his extensive knowledge of smartphone cameras and battery life, has positioned him as a leading voice in the mobile tech industry.
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