Since Apple removed the headphone jack on the iPhone 7 in 2016, rumours have circulated that the Lightning port will be phased out in favour of an entirely portless design. Analysts had projected that the top-of-the-line iPhone 13 will provide a "fully wireless experience." Of course, that didn't happen, but a portless iPhone 14 in 2022 appears to be equally unlikely, for the reasons listed below. Apple's long-term ambition has been to create an iPhone with no external connectors or buttons for a clean, streamlined device, but the company faces enormous challenges if it wants to provide a fully wireless charging and data transfer solution. In terms of data, Apple would have to look beyond Bluetooth due to its bandwidth restrictions and rely on a faster wireless technology that permits iPhone data transfer at a pace that matches or exceeds Lightning, or the removal of the connector would be perceived as a step backward. Apple, in fact, has already created such a protoc