El puerto Lightning del iPhone 12 puede ser lo siguiente que mate Apple

Los puertos han sido un elemento fijo en los teléfonos móviles desde sus inicios, que datan desde el iPhone 12 volviendo a los «teléfonos tontos» de décadas antes. Pero incluso cuando se trata de puertos, Apple ha hecho las cosas a su manera. En 2012, la compañía dejó obsoletos sus propios accesorios cuando cambió de un conector de 30 pines a un puerto Lightning patentado, aunque USB-C es ampliamente aceptado como conector universal. (Existen Cables Lightning a USB-C, sin embargo.)

Pero si hay que creer en los rumores de larga data de la industria, Apple planea eliminar el puerto Lightning en el iPhone, dando paso a un teléfono completamente sin puerto. Uno de los últimos indicios de que nos estamos acercando a esta vida sin puertos es la introducción de Apple de MagSafe en el iPhone.

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The wireless charging system relies on an embedded array of magnets that snap the iPhone 12 onto a MagSafe puck. To charge your iPhone 12, rest it on the circular charging pad, then wait for the charging indicator on the screen to confirm it’s working. This eliminates the need for a Lightning connector, and while Apple kept the port on the iPhone 12, it did remove the wall adapter and wired earphones from its box.

After the addition of MagSafe, a wireless future seems inevitable for the iPhone. It offers a glimpse into Apple’s vision where a cord-free iPhone accessory ecosystem is made possible by magnets, not ports.

«Wireless technologies have reached a level of maturity where a portless device is much more viable than it’s ever been,» said Tuong Huy Nguyen, senior principal analyst at Gartner.

Some Chinese phone-makers have also beaten Apple to the punch, launching portless phones of their own. And many examples of emerging tech, like VR headsets and smart glasses, are wireless too. Whether Apple will head down this path remains to be seen, but there are many reasons why the time is right for Apple to finally introduce a portless iPhone. 

Apple is making more things wireless

Ports are a practical conduit for phones to deliver three key functions: charging, data transfer and audio output. Before adding MagSafe to its phones, Apple developed AirDrop and iCloud for data transferring. As for audio, Apple kicked off the mainstream trend of wireless earbuds in earnest when it introduced the first-gen AirPods in 2016. 

MagSafe is the wireless bridge to wired accessories

MagSafe is Apple’s answer to wireless charging for the iPhone 12. But to convince more people to live without a Lightning port, Apple needs to offer a wireless bridge for other wired accessories. MagSafe seems to serve exactly that purpose, opening up possibilities for a whole new world of iPhone attachments that magnetically snap on.

These accessories could include «game controllers, camera grips, selfie sticks and, yes, wireless charging battery packs that could change the way we hold or interact with an iPhone,» according to CNET executive editor Roger Cheng.

A few official MagSafe accessories we’ve already seen include Belkin’s car dock and a combo iPhone/Apple Watch charger. The move to MagSafe also indicates that iPhones probably won’t get USB-C.

Apple keeps improving wireless charging

After holding out for years, Apple embraced wireless technology in 2018 when it added support for the Qi-based wireless inductive charging standard to its iPhone 8 and iPhone X. Apple initially limited the power to just 5 watts, but later boosted it to 7.5 watts via a software update. This was an indication that Apple was regarding wireless charging not as a specialty feature, but as a necessary one. 

There’s also chatter about a new wireless charging pad in the works to replace AirPower, which was ultimately canceled before it had a chance to hit the market. Rather than charging multiple devices simultaneously like the AirPower promised, this Qi pad would likely charge one device at a time. 

Now Apple says MagSafe works even faster than Qi chargers. Its charger now offers twice the amount of power at 15 watts, which could bring it on par with the Quick Charge technology that Android phones have long enjoyed. Admittedly, Apple has some catching up to do versus Chinese competitors such as Xiaomi and Oppo, but overall the industry is charging forward. 

For many years, wireless chargers have been painfully slow compared with their wired counterparts, taking nearly twice as long in some cases. But that gap is narrowing. Earlier this year, Oppo launched a 65W wireless charger, dubbed AirVOOC, that it says can fully charge a battery in 30 minutes. Meanwhile, Xiaomi is working on an 80W wireless charger that promises to fully refill a 4,000-mAh battery in under 20 minutes.

Apple has killed once-standard features and will likely do it again

Apple isn’t above axing popular product features even if people crave them years after they’ve gone. Apple killed the DVD disc drive in its Macs, for example, and it bid farewell to the headphone jack by removing it from the iPhone 7 in 2016. Longtime Apple executive Phill Schiller said that took «courage,» positioning it as an innovative shift away from outdated technology. «It makes no sense to tether ourselves with cables to our mobile devices,» Schiller said when Apple unveiled the AirPods at the same event. 

Though many decried the move, other phone-makers followed Apple’s lead. Samsung, OnePlus, Google and others dumped the 3.5mm headphone jack from their flagship phones soon after, leaving a USB-C port in its place.

Apple still sells tens of millions of iPhones and AirPods every year, proving that many people are willing to adapt to its newer tech.

«A smartphone is a device with limited space for all the components, but it will also be important for the smartphone makers to provide better or more functions to stay competitive,» said Research Manager Will Wong at IDC’s Asia Pacific. «Thus, a portless phone is likely to be an unavoidable trend.» 

A portless iPhone will allow Apple to better differentiate between models

Apple analyst Ming-Chi- Kuo predicts that Apple will launch a portless flagship iPhone by 2021. Kuo reported that having a wireless phone will «create more differentiation» between top-tier iPhones and base-model iPhones. Going by iPhone 12 naming standards, this would mean it’s possible that the iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max would be portless, while the iPhone 13 Mini and regular iPhone 13 would keep their Lightning port.

«We expect that the highest-end model would cancel the [Lightning] puerto y proporcionar una experiencia completamente inalámbrica «, escribió Kuo en un informe de 2019.

Diferenciar más entre modelos podría facilitar que Apple imponga precios más altos para sus iPhones más elegantes. Estos se dirigirían a personas con presupuestos más grandes que se preocupan por estar a la vanguardia de la tecnología de Apple.

Apple no sería el primero en experimentar con un teléfono sin puerto

Apple no suele ser el primero en saltar sobre las tendencias de los teléfonos móviles. No fue el primero en lanzar teléfonos con 5G o carga inalámbrica, y aún no hemos visto un teléfono plegable de Apple. Por tanto, no es de extrañar que ya existan teléfonos sin puerto. El fabricante chino de teléfonos Vivo lanzó un teléfono conceptual Apex sin puerto y sin botones el año pasado, que se basa en un clip magnético que se conecta detrás del teléfono para cargarlo. También tiene botones de detección de presión virtuales en lugar de botones físicos, pero aún no está disponible para el mercado masivo.

Sin puertos también significaría más durabilidad

Cada vez que Apple cierra un puerto, tiende a seguir un coro de críticas sobre la obsolescencia forzada, entre otras cosas. Algunos usuarios de iPhone sienten que Apple les está robando puntos de entrada perfectamente precisos.

Dejando de lado esas acusaciones, sellar los puertos podría hacer que los iPhones sean más duraderos. La lógica es la siguiente: no tener puertos significa menos costuras y, por lo tanto, menos oportunidades de que entre polvo y agua en el teléfono. También significa menos puntos de vulnerabilidad para las grietas.

Apple ha estado equipando sus iPhones con funciones diseñadas para mejorar la durabilidad. Este año la empresa ha hecho hincapié en la pantalla de escudo de cerámica en sus nuevos modelos de iPhone 12. También introdujo la resistencia al agua para los iPhones en 2016.

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