Tech

Apple To Give Up Lightning Port Next?

Khushboo.K
First Posted: Sep 30, 2016 04:06 AM EDT

Apple has envisaged a world that does not contain bulky and flimsy connectors in its devices. Keeping this fact in mind, the immensely innovative electronics organization has reduced the physical imperfections of its devices by chopping off various ports.

Apple has a history of ditching things that seemed important to the users. Previously, things from hardware including floppy disks, DVD readers and headphone jacks have been discarded. The recently launched iPhone 7 and iPhone 7Plus grabbed extraordinary attention on the announcement of the removal of 3.5mm headphone jack. With the 12-inch Retina MacBook, Apple equipped the laptop with a single USB-C port and the last news heard stated that headphone jack may be excluded from MacBook too.

According to a report furnished by Forbes, Apple might be planning on the abandonment of the lightning port in its upcoming product, iPhone 8. This news has surfaced because a new patent has been granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office and it suggests that Apple might be working on this idea.

In case the lightning port is removed from the devices, two devices will be able to share data through an optical interface. A series of tiny holes would be used in concert that will allow the passage of optical information. The disposal of lightning port would make an iPhone totally port-free and possibly even slimmer.

Giving up the lightning port will not cause much disruption as Apple has already made up its mind that its vision of a wire-less world must be achieved. Any protests put forward would only mean reheating the arguments that came up during the loss of 3.5mm headphone jack.

The patent granted today does not guarantee that the next device produced by the firm is going to abandon the lightning port. However, the speculations and momentum of Apple's patent activity as well as the signs being shown at the launch and promotion of iPhone 7 and iPhone 7Plus are all pointing in the same direction. This patent is just a small part of the many patents already filed by Apple and those that will be filed in future to ditch the final cabled connector from the iPhone.

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