Apple has a long and storied history of “courageously” killing our ports. They were the first to ditch the floppy drive on the iMac. They famously axed the 30-pin connector for Lightning. And, to the eternal frustration of many, they removed the headphone jack, pushing us all toward a wireless future with AirPods.

Each move was met with outrage, followed by slow, grudging acceptance, and finally, industry-wide adoption. Now, the rumor mill is churning with speculation that Apple is preparing to make its final, most dramatic move. The long-prophesied, truly portless iPhone is reportedly on the horizon for the iPhone 17.

It’s the ultimate expression of Apple’s minimalist design philosophy: a perfect, seamless slab of glass and metal with no openings whatsoever. But is it a stroke of genius that will define the future of smartphones, or a user-hostile nightmare that will usher in a new era of dongles?

The “Genius Design” Argument: Apple’s Wireless Utopia

From Apple’s perspective, removing the last port is the logical final step in a decade-long journey. The arguments in its favor are rooted in design purity and engineering elegance.

• The Perfect Monolith: A device with no holes is a more beautiful object. It achieves a level of simplicity and minimalism that designers have been chasing for years. It’s a sealed, self-contained piece of technology that feels more futuristic and refined.
• Superior Durability: The charging port is one of the most common points of failure on a phone. It collects dust and lint, and it’s a primary entry point for water. A completely sealed iPhone would be significantly more water-resistant and durable, with fewer moving parts to break.
• Forcing the Wireless Future: This move would be the ultimate catalyst for Apple’s own wireless ecosystem. It would instantly make MagSafe the default charging standard for every iPhone user and further cement the dominance of AirPods. It also paves the way for a future of purely high-speed, wireless data transfer, moving beyond the physical limitations of a cable.

The “Dongle Nightmare” Argument: The Practical Problems

For every elegant design argument, there’s a practical, real-world headache that a portless design creates.

• The Charging Conundrum: While MagSafe is convenient, it’s still generally slower and less energy-efficient than a fast-charging cable. More importantly, it creates a new kind of “range anxiety.” What happens when you’re at an airport or a friend’s house and your battery is dying? The world is full of ubiquitous USB-C cables, but you’ll be searching for a specific, proprietary wireless charger.
• The Data Bottleneck: How do power users handle data? While AirDrop is great for sending a few photos, for a professional videographer trying to offload gigabytes of 4K ProRes video, a wired connection is essential for speed and reliability. A portless world would necessitate a new, likely expensive, high-speed wireless data protocol or, ironically, a clumsy “smart connector” dongle that snaps onto the phone for wired transfers.
• The Accessory Apocalypse: The world is full of hardware that relies on a physical connection. Think of the millions of cars with wired CarPlay, the professional microphones and audio interfaces that musicians and podcasters use for zero-latency recording, or the countless other accessories that would be rendered obsolete overnight.

The Verdict: A Question of “When,” Not “If”

A portless iPhone feels like an inevitability. Apple’s entire product trajectory has been pointing in this direction for years. The real question has never been if they would do it, but when the surrounding wireless technology would be mature enough to make the transition manageable for most people.

With faster MagSafe charging and more robust data transfer protocols, that time is getting very close. Expect Apple to test the waters by first releasing a “Pro” model without a port, letting early adopters navigate the challenges before it becomes the standard for all iPhones.

When it arrives, the iPhone 17 will be hailed by design purists as the pinnacle of minimalism. For power users and anyone with a drawer full of cables, it will likely be seen as the beginning of a new and frustrating dongle hell.