2021 iPhone: Forget USB-C, It Could Have No Ports At All

Despite the fact that we're still months out from release, we've already heard plenty of rumors about next year's iPhones. Strangely enough, we've been hearing rumors about 2021's iPhones as well, nearly two years before Apple will release them. Today, a famed Apple analyst is making a pretty bold prediction about Apple's 2021 iPhone, claiming that Apple may opt to forgo the charging port on it entirely.

iPhone charging ports have already been a source of consistent speculation. With Apple moving to USB-C on the iPad Pro, there's been plenty of question as to whether or not we'll see a similar switch in the iPhone. In an investors note today, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (via 9to5Mac) takes things one step further by suggesting that in 2021, Apple will drop the charging port entirely for a "completely wireless experience."

That, of course, means that charging and data transfer would have to be done wirelessly, but thankfully, Kuo expects that those who don't want the charging port to go away will still have options, noting that he thinks Apple will start by removing the charging port from only the high-end model it releases that year.

Kuo also made predictions for 2020 in his note today, saying that he expects Apple to release a total of five different iPhones next year. One of those will be the iPhone SE 2 with a 4.7-inch display at some point in the first half of the year, followed by four iPhones with OLED displays in the fall – one with a 5.4-inch display, two with 6.1-inch displays, and a fourth with a 6.7-inch display. Kuo also predicts that Apple will launch an iPhone SE 2 Plus in 2021 in a larger form factor with an all-screen design.

So, Kuo is making some pretty bold Apple predictions for the next couple of years. While we have a fairly easy time believing that Apple is working on an iPhone SE successor, we do wonder about the potential for an iPhone that lacks a charging port in 2021, so needless to say, take these predictions with a grain of salt. We'll see if any other leaks or rumors wind up corroborating Kuo's predictions, so stay tuned.