EU says port-less devices are okay, opening the door for Apple

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple considered making the iPhone 17 Air its first port-less device. Such reports are nothing new, we’ve been hearing about a wireless-only iPhone since at least 2019. Apple reportedly decided to keep the USB-C port for now, allegedly because it feared a port-less phone would be against EU regulations.

That is not the case, however. European Commission press officer Federica Miccoli confirmed to 9to5Mac that a device that supports only wireless charging is perfectly within the rules:

Yes. Since, such radio equipment cannot be recharged via wired charging, it does not need to incorporate the harmonised (wired) charging solution.

In other words, USB-C is only mandatory on portable battery-powered devices that support wired charging – the goal was to kill off various incompatible wired charging standards. If wireless is the only way to charge a device, then no USB-C is required.

In fact, part of that same law that enshrined USB-C as the be-all and end-all wired charging port mandates that the EU should do the same with a wireless charging standard.

The Commission will promote the harmonisation of wireless charging in order to avoid future fragmentation of the internal market and any negative effects on consumer and the environment. The Commission will monitor the evolution of all types of wireless charging technologies (not only inductive), particularly market developments, market penetration, market fragmentation, technological performance, interoperability, energy efficiency and charging performance.

Luckily, that is essentially done at this point – the original Qi is the lowest common denominator and Qi2 is a backwards-compatible upgrade. Of course, Qi2 is basically Apple’s MagSafe, the Wireless Power Consortium just made magnets optional.

Anyway, the iPhone 17 Air will have a USB-C port on the bottom. But all bets are off for the 18 Air.

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