As spotted by the specialist media Patently Apple, the patent filed by Apple that the US Patent & Trademark Office published this week shows a new type of connector that can be somewhat compared to the iPad's Smart Connector and even the MagSafe old MacBooks. This new charging system could replace Lightning in the future.
The patent states that the new connector is designed to improve the iPhone's water resistance, as it is built entirely with magnets. While it seems unlikely that Apple will create another connector for its devices, this reveals that the company has indeed explored the possibility of replacing or removing the iPhone's Lightning port.
MagSafe: the preferred solution?
However, it seems that the arrival of MagSafe at the end of last year on the iPhone 12 has put an end to this debate within Apple Park. Wireless charging would indeed be the next way to restore energy to your phone, without using the Lightning port.
Ultimately, many analysts believe that Apple will make this port disappear, as was the case for the jack port, which disappeared shortly after the arrival of the AirPods in order to make Apple's headphones an obvious solution for users.
MagSafe therefore risks becoming the only charging solution on tomorrow's iPhones, with Apple wanting, and the firm makes no secret of it, to produce an iPhone without ports in the coming years. It seems that the fateful date is starting to get closer and closer, and many observers believe that the iPhone of 2021 should welcome this revolution.
