
Apple’s iPhone 17 Air Almost Had No Ports—And That’s Wild
March 17, 2025Apple nearly released the iPhone 17 Air without any ports—no Lightning, no USB-C, just pure wireless everything. But something made them change their mind.
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Apple Nearly Went Full Wireless—But Chickened Out
Imagine you plug in your iPhone to charge… oh wait, you can’t. Because there’s no port. That was almost reality. According to reports, Apple strongly considered making the iPhone 17 Air a fully portless device, meaning no USB-C, no wired charging, no data transfer cables—just pure wireless everything. It’s the kind of move Apple would absolutely make. Remember when they killed the headphone jack? Yeah, that was just the beginning. But this time, something stopped them.
The “Thinner Than Ever” iPhone Plan
Apple’s new iPhone 17 Air is expected to be a super slim, high-low hybrid, mixing premium and budget features. Think MacBook Air vibes—lightweight, sleek, and probably costing at least one kidney. To pull this off, Apple engineers had to thin out the batteries while somehow keeping battery life intact. That alone was a Herculean engineering feat, but then someone at Apple apparently said, “Hey, what if we also removed the charging port?” Cue internal chaos.
The Wireless Future Almost Happened… But Europe Said No

Apple’s dream of a portless iPhone wasn’t just some wild experiment. It actually makes sense from their perspective:
- They already sell MagSafe wireless chargers
- They already encourage cloud-based storage
- They already charge extra for every tiny upgrade
But here’s where things got tricky—regulators in Europe weren’t having it. The EU has already forced Apple to adopt USB-C, and removing all ports could have raised more legal headaches than a 3 AM Call of Duty session with lag. For now, Apple scrapped the idea, but let’s be real—this was just a test run.
Have you ever played a game where the devs remove a feature everyone loves, then pretend it’s for your own good? That’s what Apple nearly did with the iPhone 17 Air. This would’ve been the ultimate patch update, except instead of fixing bugs, they’d be deleting an entire charging method. It’s like if your favourite FPS game removed sniper rifles and told you, “We think this makes for a more streamlined experience.” Nah, we’re not falling for it.
For now, the iPhone 17 Air will still have a USB-C port but don’t get too comfortable. Apple has been pushing wireless everything for years, and this experiment tells us they’re not done yet. The portless iPhone isn’t a matter of if—it’s a matter of when.