Apple would be entitled to launch a port-free wirelessly charging iPhone in the future, if it so desired, according to the folks most likely to block it.
Reports earlier this week claimed Apple had explored giving the skinny iPhone 17 Air a port-free design, but decided against it due to regulatory concerns.
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Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman heard form his sources that Apple wanted “to make the Air device Apple’s first completely port-free iPhone” but dropped the idea out of concern it would have annoyed EU regulators.
That’s because the region demands a standardised USB-C port under its Common Charger Directive for replenishing handsets (which put paid to the Lightning connector of course).
However, it turns out the EU would be quite alright with the idea. The ruling is that if a device has a charging port then it has to be USB-C, but it doesn’t have to have a charging port.
“Since, such radio equipment cannot be recharged via charging, it does not need to incorporate the harmonised () charging solution,” European Commission press officer Federica Miccoli told 9to5Mac.
It makes perfect sense when you think about it. The EU’s main concern when enacting the Common Charger Directive was to cut down on the obscene amount of e-waste that comes from having multiple options on the market.
Considering the wireless charging solutions don’t need additional wires and plugs at all, they’re beneficial to that goal of cutting down on waste, aside from the fact users have to actually buy pads like MagSafe chargers to place the best iPhones on.
USB-C you later?
Apple would have known this so presumably there are other reasons it reportedly shied away from dropping the charging port altogether for this model. Perhaps there are concerns over the maturity of the wireless charging market? Perhaps the iPhone 17 Air, like the iPhone 16e, was unable to house MagSafe?
At least we know there’d be no EU hassle like the travesty we saw announced today to mess with the idea, if Apple eventually decided to go down that route on an iPhone 18 phone perhaps?
