A totally wireless iPhone?

No headphone jack? What about no wires at all?
One of the big points that Phil Schiller, Apple's marketing chief, tried to convey to audiences at the iPhone 7 launch event last week was the push toward a greater number of wireless experiences.
"Up till now, no one has taken on the challenge of fixing the things that are difficult to do in your wireless experiences," Schiller said onstage. "It makes no sense to tether ourselves to our mobile devices."

Though Schiller was talking about the wireless AirPod earphones, that comment could be taken as a mission statement of sorts for the entire device. Between the AirPods and the removal of the headphone jack, Apple is forcing your hand to give up on wired headphones -- or at least consider it.
That may be just the beginning. Next year's iPhone could do away with the last physical wire: the Lightning cable needed for charging. Yes, Apple may finally embrace wireless charging, a feature found on other marquee devices, like Samsung's Galaxy S7.
"All the talk about wireless at the event definitely signals a future intent to move to wireless charging," said Jan Dawson, an analyst at Jackdaw Research.
The Apple Watch already uses a form of wireless charging. And the Qi standard, embraced by the likes of Samsung, already drives wireless charging stations in thousands of public spaces and 50 models of cars. Those stations are just waiting for an iPhone.

Better Bluetooth

Bluetooth 5, meanwhile, promises to quadruple the range and double the speed of existing Bluetooth technology. It may be the answer to those skeptics who still shun wireless headphones. With Bluetooth 5, those headphones should work more reliably.
The new version of Bluetooth, which could come as soon as this year, could also mean more things in a home being paired, or faster communication with the Apple Watch.
WiGig, meanwhile, is another intriguing wireless standard promising extremely high speed, shorter-range connections that can be used for 4K video streaming, sending data to second displays and syncing. Could a short- and long-range wireless overhaul let a future iPhone seamlessly connect to even more devices?