Maybe there will be an iPhone without a charging gate. That while Apple had first decided not to do it because of the EU legislation.
EU confirms: Apple can make an iPhone without charging gate
If all goes well, four new iPhones will be released this year, one of which is whole new ones. The iPhone 17 Air will be a brand new model and the thinnest iPhone ever. According to rumors, Apple had further considered not to give this device a charging gate. To charge this iPhone you would always be dependent on wireless charging.
Apple finally decided not to go for this solution. Speculations think that it is partly due to EU legislation. Since December 28, 2024, all new small electronic devices that are sold in the European Union must have a USB-C port.
The EU hopes to reduce the mountain with electronic waste. Due to the uncertainty that was accompanied by this legislation, Apple probably took the certain for the uncertain and the iPhone 17 Air gets a USB-C charging gate.
But the European Union recently gave clarification. Federica Miccolli (this is the EU press officer) has said that a device should only have USB-C if it actually has a charging gate. It is therefore not mandatory to have a charging gate (with or without USB-C). An iPhone without a charging gate is therefore no problem for the European Union.
Apple will probably not change it anymore with the iPhone 17 Air. But that means that nothing Apple still stands in the way of no longer providing future iPhones with a charging gate.
More about the iPhone 17 Air
The iPhone 17 comes in four variants: the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max and the iPhone 17 Air. The iPhone 17 Air is a whole new device of this. This iPhone gets a number of functions of the iPhone 16 Pro, such as Promotion and the camera control. But according to rumors, this also becomes one of the thinnest iPhones ever. The expectation is that this iPhone will only be 5.5 mm thick.
Apple has not yet released the iPhone 17 Air, it is expected that the phone is in September 2025 is announced. Then we also know for sure what prices will receive the next iPhone.
The iPhone 17 Air replaces the Plus version. The price will therefore be about the same (around 1100 euros), but you will also miss some parts that the iPhone 16 Plus does. For example, the iPhone 17 Air gets only one camera lens on the back.
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