The iPhone 16 prepares for a portless smartphone future

Ryan
Haines
/
Android
Authority

TL;DR

Like
Apple
Watches
and
TVs,
users
can
now
recover
a
bricked
iPhone
16
wirelessly
using
another
iPhone.
Older
iPhone
models
still
require
a
Mac
or
Windows
PC
for
operating
system
recovery
when
bricked.
Thanks
to
this
implementation,
Apple
can
now
realistically
release
an
iPhone
without
a
USB
port.

For
a
while
now,
Apple
has
let
watchOS
and
tvOS
users
restore
their
bricked
devices
wirelessly
using
a
nearby
iPhone.
This
spares
them
the
need
to
visit
an
Apple
Store
for
operating
system
recovery,
as

Apple
Watches
and
TVs
don’t
offer
USB
ports
to
connect
them
to
a
computer.
With
the

iPhone
16,
the
Cupertino
firm
is
now
expanding
wireless
OS
recovery
support
to
its
smartphones,
allowing
eligible
users
to
recover
their
bricked
devices
using
another
iPhone
or
iPad.

As
the
folks
at

9to5Mac
discovered,
iPhones
and
iPads
running

iOS
18
and
iPadOS
18
can
wirelessly
recover
bricked
iPhone
16
units.
While
any
iDevice
running
the
latest
OS
version
can
assist
with
the
wireless
recovery,
only
2024
iPhone
models
can
be
revived
using
this
method.

When
you
bring
a
bricked
iPhone
16
close
to
a
compatible
iPhone
or
iPad,
an
alert
should
appear
on
the
functional
iDevice.
It
states:
“An
iPhone
near
you
is
in
recovery
mode.
You
can
help
restore
it
with
your
iPhone.”
You
can
then
hit
Continue
to
initiate
the
process,
Learn
More
to
read
about
it,
or
X
to
dismiss
the
popup.

The
feature
works
by
downloading
the
firmware
on
the
functional
device
and
wirelessly
transferring
it
to
the
bricked
one.
The
bricked
iPhone
16
then
flashes
the
operating
system
and
boots
up.

With
the
latest
iPhones
now
supporting
wireless
OS
recovery,
MagSafe
and
Qi2
charging,
and
AirDrop
(along
with
other
cloud
solutions)
for
file
transfer,
Apple
could
realistically
retire
the
USB-C
connector
and
release
a
portless
smartphone.
While
many
users
prefer
wired
connections,
the
company
has
repeatedly
sacrificed
functionality
in
the
name
of
minimalism.