The iPhone 17 Air is set to be the slimmest iPhone that Apple has ever created, and a recent report revealed that the company had contemplated introducing it as the first portless phone. Ultimately, it seems Apple opted against this decision, partly due to concerns about potential conflicts with EU regulations regarding the removal of the USB-C port.
Nonetheless, I have received confirmation from the EU that eliminating the USB-C port to create a fully portless phone would, in fact, be entirely permissible.
Apple’s mandated transition to USB-C
Apple famously needed to replace its proprietary Lightning port with a USB-C connector to adhere to EU environmental regulations, specifically the Common Charger Directive.
The EU was concerned about unnecessary electronic waste generated by having different charging ports for various smartphones and consumer electronics. This lack of standardization resulted in consumers needing to own multiple chargers for different devices. Consequently, the bloc mandated that all devices sold within the European Union utilize a standardized charging port.
Interestingly, when this legislation was initially proposed, the most widely used port was the inadequate microUSB, which would have been specified as the standard. Fortunately, by the time the law was finalized, USB-C emerged as the new commonly accepted standard, becoming the official port defined by the legislation.
While Apple had already transitioned to USB-C for its Macs and iPads, it continued to use the Lightning port for iPhones. The law necessitated that the iPhone models also switch to USB-C.
As the January 2025 deadline drew near, the only remaining iPhone models featuring Lightning ports offered directly by Apple were the iPhone SE and iPhone 14. Apple discontinued sales of both models just before the deadline reached.
Bloomberg highlights Apple’s concerns regarding a portless iPhone
We’ve long suggested that Apple might eventually eliminate wired charging in one or more iPhone models, and Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman reported that the company considered this for the iPhone 17 Air.
One even bolder idea was to make the Air device Apple’s first completely port-free iPhone. This would entail removing the USB-C connector and fully transitioning to wireless charging alongside syncing data via the cloud. The timing seems right for this change.
He further noted that Apple chose against this option, partly due to the requirements set forth by EU legislation.
Apple ultimately decided against adopting a port-free design for the new iPhone, which will retain the USB-C connector. A significant reason for this decision was the concern that eliminating USB-C could provoke issues with European Union regulators, who mandated the transition to USB-C.
However, the EU confirms that portless phones are allowed
It was my understanding that the Common Charger Directive stated that if a device includes a wired charging port then it must use USB-C – appearing not to mandate a USB-C port in all cases.
I have now verified this with Federica Miccoli, a press officer for the European Commission, whose responsibilities include overseeing the internal market and industrial strategy, specifically inquiring whether a portless phone complies with the law.
Yes. Since such radio equipment cannot be charged with a wired method, it is not required to incorporate the harmonized (wired) charging solution.
The legislation does advocate for the EU to support standardization of wireless charging solutions, as opposed to proprietary ones.
The Commission will work to promote the harmonization of wireless charging to prevent future fragmentation in the internal market and mitigate negative impacts on consumers and the environment. The Commission will keep track of the evolution in all forms of wireless charging technologies (not just inductive), focusing on market trends, penetration, fragmentation, technological performance, interoperability, energy efficiency, and charging efficiency.
As detailed in recital 13 of the Common Charger Directive, “the Commission should take action to promote and harmonize such solutions to avert future fragmentation of the internal market.”
On that note, Apple has already contributed the MagSafe standard to the Wireless Power Consortium, where it has been established as a common standard branded Qi2. This means that a future portless phone utilizing solely MagSafe charging would be entirely legal to sell within EU nations.
Although it may not be occurring with this year’s iPhone 17 Air, the arrival of a fully portless iPhone is merely a matter of time.
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Image: DMN collage featuring images from Apple and Codioful on Unsplash
