A few days ago, a report ricocheted around the phone world that Apple had considered making a USB-C-less iPhone 17 Air to make the ultra-thin phone even skinnier.
However, as Mark Gurman of Bloomberg reported, Apple apparently backed off from that decision thanks to the European Union's "common charger" legislation that mandates USB-C charging support for all mobile devices — which includes everything from phones and tablets to handheld gaming consoles.
"Apple ultimately decided not to adopt a port-free design with the new iPhone, which will still have a USB-C connector," Gurman wrote. "One major reason: There were concerns that removing USB-C would upset European Union regulators, who mandated the iPhone switch to USB-C."
If you'll recall, Apple no longer makes Lightning port devices because of the Common Charger Directive. The first USB-C Apple iPhones were the iPhone 15s. The release of the iPhone 16e, which replaced the iPhone SE, finally killed off Lightning for good.
Today, a new article from 9to5Mac says that Apple could make a USB-C free phone, which would be a legal device thanks to wireless charging.
"Yes. Since, such radio equipment cannot be recharged via wired charging, it does not need to incorporate the harmonised (wired) charging solution," an EU spokesperson told 9to5Mac.
Should Apple have known?
When the Gurman report first went up, we saw comments from people asking why Apple was backing off since a portless device isn't necessarily illegal.
This, as confirmed by the spokesperson, is true. And we're fairly certain they just sent verbatim language from the law itself.
We found a copy of the law, which you can read here.
The law has an FAQ section under the label "Scope." Section 15 of the Scope reads:
15. Can radio equipment that can only be recharged via wireless charging be made available on the market without incorporating the harmonised charging solution?
Yes. Since, such radio equipment cannot be recharged via wired charging, it does not need to incorporate the harmonised (wired) charging solution.
It goes on to say that the Commission will "promote the harmonisation of wireless charging" to avoid future fragmentation.
A wireless future
Apple has been working with the Wireless Power Consortium for years now, which established the Qi protocol and later the Qi2 standard.
Qi2 is basically a version of Apple's MagSafe that is now available for Android phones, with 2025 being the year it has come online. For example, Samsung's Galaxy S25 series is the first Samsung phone to support the standard, even if the wonky Qi2 Ready version doesn't have magnets.
Not everyone seems excited, as several comments across multiple articles decried wireless charging as slower and more inefficient than wired charging or as a detriment to people who have to utilize wired connections to CarPlay.
To be clear, as far as we know, the iPhone 17 Air will feature a USB-C port. So, even if Apple is considering a portless phone, we have some time before that is likely to become a reality, legal or not.
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