Future iPhone could have no ports at all, report suggests

2021 model could require users to charge up and sync entirely wirelessly

Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller talks about the new iPhone 11 Pro during a special event on September 10, 2019 in the Steve Jobs Theater on Apple's Cupertino, California campus (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Apple's future iPhones could get rid of ports entirely, according to a new report.

The 2021 model is rumoured to drop the charging plug at the bottom of the phone and instead rely on people charging and syncing their iPhone entirely wirelessly, usually reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has claimed.

Apple has long been rumoured to be working to get away from the Lightning cable that is currently in the bottom of its phones. But it was expected that it may switch to the USB-C port that is currently in its iPad Pro and laptops.

But the new rumour, reported by 9to5mac, suggests that it will actually just get rid of the port entirely. Instead, it will use wireless technology, a version of which is already present in Apple's latest handsets.

Apple has already removed the headphone jack from the bottom of phones. That happened with the iPhone 7, and has been reflected in every handset since.

Removing the port would presumably save space and could allow for improved water and dust resistance for the iPhone.

The change will come to the highest-end model first, the report claims, before presumably making its way across the rest of the line.

The same year will also bring an iPhone SE 2 Plus, Kuo reported. Apple is expected to introduce an update to the iPhone SE soon, but 2021 will see the company reveal a bigger version of that same cheaper phone.

The SE 2 Plus will have a display that sweeps all the way over the front of the device, the report claims, mimicking the design of the newer iPhones. But it will not have the same Face ID authentication technology, instead integrating a fingerprint sensor into the bottom of the device, the report claims.