Apple is in a permanent crusade against unnecessary ports, and it looks like the next on the list is the iPhone’s Lightning port.
In many ways, it makes a lot of sense for Apple to withdraw the Lightning version of the iPhone. To begin with, it is an extra component that must be installed. It takes up space on the iPhone and is a hole that allows water and other random sounds to enter the iPhone.
It is also one less part to wear out.
But those are all things that benefit Apple. And you, as the person who paid a lot of money for your iPhone?
How is life after the Lightning door?
Well, that means that everything you own that connects to that Lightning port will be discarded. Cables, chargers, memory cards, FLIR IR cameras, docks, drone controllers.
All.
I can’t imagine how many Lightning accessories are out there. Over the years, I have dealt with many hundreds and have dozens on my table and on the shelves around me now.
Getting rid of the Lightning door would create a large amount of electronic waste overnight.
And Apple knows that.
How do we know that Apple knows this?
Because this time, last year, he used this exact reason as a defense against pressure from the European Commission to switch to USB-C. Apple said the move from Lightning to USB-C would create an “unprecedented amount of electronic waste” and halt “hundreds of millions of active devices and accessories used by our European customers”.
Well, drop the Lightning door too.
This would create a lot of waste.
So, what has changed in a year?
It is possible that Apple will provide a wireless dongle that acts as a bridge, but who knows.
And it probably won’t be cheap.
The flip side of this is that, as iPhones have a long life, Apple can argue that these accessories will not be obsolete overnight. However, in my experience, although iPhones have a long service life, I don’t see the same being true for accessories.
Apple may try to claim that the change it is making up for any waste. I’m not sure if I would buy this to be honest.
In addition, we will take into account the fact that wireless charging is a huge waste in terms of electricity. Terribly so.
And wireless charging can never be as efficient as a wire.
I also heard people’s concerns about not being able to put iPhones into recovery mode without a Lightning port, and that would mean taking a trip to the Apple Store. That is really another concern. The flip side is that it would make the iPhone much more resistant to jailbreak or data being accessed without user consent.
What do you think about Apple abandoning the Lightning version?