Tech giant Apple may be ditching its lightning charging cable and port for some of its iPhone smartphones by 2021, according to an analyst.
TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple may abandon the lightning charging cable and port on its premium iPhone models in 2021. According to Kuo, the company may opt for a completely wireless device in order to differentiate the more expensive iPhone models.
Currently, apple offers wireless charging docks for iPhone 8 and later models.
Kuo also predicts that Apple will be releasing five new iPhone models in 2020. These include a 4.7-inch model in the first half of the year and four 5G-enabled versions, 5.4 and 6.1 inch lower end models and 6.1 and 6.7 higher end models, in the second half.
If undertaken, the decision to remove the lightning charging cable and port will be a major change in the relatively stagnant design of the iPhone and could be used as a boost. This is because sales have slowed down for the iPhone despite being the biggest revenue source for Apple.
However, Kuo's report indicated that the removal of the lightning cable could add to various input technology that have been eliminated by Apple over the years, which causes confusion over the industry standard and what accessories consumers must invest in for the long term.
Over the decades, Apple has discontinued several input technologies, including the removal of the floppy disk drive in 1998 to feature the re-writable CD drive in its iMac computers, which will eventually be phased out too a decade later.
Apple has also completely removed USB ports from its MacBook laptops and replaced it with a slimmer USB-C plug-in but forcing users to buy adapters in order to use older devices. The company also did away with the headphone jack in 2016 with the iPhone 7.
Sales of the the Airpods are expected to get a boost from the ditching of the lightning cable and port.
