Before the launch of the Apple Watch Series 7 we learned, through FCC documentation, that the Apple Watch Series 7 have a module that allows wireless communication at the frequency of 60.5 GHz. Now, with the first units of the watch reaching the press we have been able to verify that This one lacks a service port, one more step towards wireless.
No ports or holes in our Apple Watch
For the user, the Apple Watch does not have any connector or port. The only thing we can do with our watch is charge it on its wireless charging base. In the face of official technical support, however, Apple Watch does have a service and diagnostic port which can be used for various purposes.
Or at least it counted, since it is in the Apple Watch Series 7 where Apple has already abandoned this connector and has opted for the use of wireless technology. But what is the use of this strange and almost secret port? This is the connection they would use in an Apple Store for, for example, perform a watchOS restore if necessary.
Thanks to this port it is also can run diagnostic tools to check the correct operation of the watch. Now, however, these procedures will be carried out directly wirelessly. To do this, the Apple Watch, according to the documentation published by the FCC, must be placed on a specific magnetic charging base that also has a 60.5 GHz communication module.
Thus the Apple Watch Series 7 can be maintained without having to resort to physical connectors. This is a very meaningful move. Recall, for example, that the Apple Watch Series 7 is the first to be IP6X certified against dust, something in which surely the disappearance of a physical port must have helped.
A field of experimentation for the iPhone
Beyond the Apple Watch, and with our sights already on the rumors, we have to talk about the iPhone. Recall that there are several pieces of information that tell us about a future iPhone 14 without ports. Removing the port on an iPhone is far more complex than removing a component and fabricating a frame from one piece: you have to consider restoration, even debugging that developers use.
In this sense, while Apple is experimenting with the possibility of restoring our iPhone from a kind of integrated recovery partition – something like what we can already do on our Macs – it is clear that the diagnosis and maintenance system of the Apple Watch Series 7 can be a interesting testing ground before this technology reaches the iPhone.
Based on the design and past moves, such as the removal of the headphone jack, Apple intends to minimize the number of holes in its devices. In the Apple Watch they have already achieved it, now it is the iPhone’s turn.