A few days ago, what could have been a major shift in the consumer tech space was rumored. The iPhone 17 Air could go completely portless, ditching USB-C altogether. Frankly, that would’ve been a major leap but Apple seemingly shut the portless plans to not upset EU any further. As it turns out, the good news is, EU won’t have a problem with portless smartphones. According to the EU, smartphone makers can release fully portless devices without violating regulations.
EU is okay with portless smartphones. Could Samsung follow?
9to5Mac reached out to European Commission press officer Federica Miccoli, who oversees internal market and industrial strategy, to clarify whether a completely portless smartphone would comply with EU rules. The answer? Yes, and here’s what the press officer told the outlet.
“Since, such radio equipment cannot be recharged via wired charging, it does not need to incorporate the harmonised (wired) charging solution,” Miccoli told 9to5Mac.
In other words, as long as a smartphone relies solely on wireless charging, it does not need a physical charging port at all. This opens the door for Apple—and other major manufacturers like Samsung—to go fully portless with future smartphones.
It’s unclear whether Apple will revisit its portless ambitions for the iPhone 17 Air or if the idea has been shelved indefinitely. The latter seems more likely for now. However, with the EU giving the green light, other smartphone makers might be more willing to explore fully wireless designs.
Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S25 Edge is already confirmed to support Qi2 wireless charging. However, it will still retain a physical port. If portless phones are the future, though, manufacturers will need to focus on significantly improving wireless charging speeds. Until wireless charging can match the speed and efficiency of wired charging, going completely portless may still feel like a compromise.
