In 2016, Apple rather infamously announced the iPhone 7. While the dual camera lens on the plus version and the Jet Black color marked some highlights, the word “courage” headlined the event. Revealing the removal of the headphone jack from the iPhone, Phil Schiller said, “The reason to move on: courage. The courage to move on and do something new that betters all of us.” Many companies mocked this anti-consumer statement, but they unsurprisingly followed suit – Apple is the industry king!
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Schiller announcing the courageous move – Getty Images.
Removing the headphone jack leaped the industry toward a wireless future. Critics ridiculed Apple for their courageous move because Apple also revealed the AirPods – it undeniably was a cash grab! However, this cash grab made a future of port-less and possibly button-less smartphones. Imagine just using a slick slab of glass and metal bordering! Today, we’ll explore this possibility but with an environmental twist per usual: can we sustainably achieve a port-less smartphone future?
Meizu’s port-less and button-less smartphone demo – Ben Sin, Forbes.
Removing all ports means removing the charging port. Currently, we all have wireless chargers; just drop your phone on this slab, and it’ll charge your phone! These chargers became popular because you need not worry about what wire to use; all smartphones these days widely use the Qi-Wireless charging standard. Thus, carrying an Android phone to a household full of iPhone users is no longer a crime. However, the main drawback of wireless chargers is they’re much slower than regular wired charging, but newer technology makes faster wireless charging an achievable reality.
As with all tech conversations on this blog, we must discuss environmental implications here. The single biggest concern with achieving port-less and button-less smartphones is wireless charging; of course, there are concerns like speaker technologies, but these don’t present as many environmental concerns as wireless charging.
Wireless charging pad – Amazon.
Currently, wireless charging uses more energy than a wired charged. This makes sense because not all energy is directly transmitted; there’s a dependency on contact, and proper contact isn’t always guaranteed. Given this increase room for error, wireless chargers slow down the charging process more than wired chargers.
On the other hand, wireless charging pads are more durable than charging wires. We’ve all seen our wires fray apart over time after two to three years of use, but we don’t have to worry about that. Additionally, you can’t lose a charging pad as easily as a charging wire simply because you’re pad always stays put in one place. While we sacrifice portability, charging pad technology is advancing by the day, so the prospect for improving sustainability in wireless technology is reasonable.
This is a great topic you touched on!It is definitely interesting to think about a wireless future with no charging ports. I like how you structured the blog by giving a brief introduction and going through the pros and cons. I also like how the information was displayed and conveyed because it made the blog a lot more readable and engaging.
I love how you thought about this topic! Most people relate to it, so it is effortless to read and understand. The standard issue made your blog more attention-grabbing and felt concise and straight to the point. I liked that. Overall, great post!
This is an interesting angle on the wireless era. I personally find wireless chargers weird, as my phone heats up too much when I put mine on one. Regardless, I’m sure that the technology will get better and I will be more accepting it. I like how you covered the pros and cons and how you structured the post. It made it engaging to read.