Dan Moren, Macworld:

At the end of last year, rumors began to circulate that Apple was investigating the possibility of developing an iPhone with no ports at all, which could see the light of day as early as 2021.

And:

But going portless entirely? The company has already done so on devices like the Apple Watch or the HomePod. Surely, though, the iPhone will always need a port. Or will it? More recently, it’s started to seem as though this speculation isn’t as far-fetched as some have initially thought.

I would bet against this, but Dan does make some solid points. Past as precedent, the Apple Watch does indeed survive without a visible port. To be fair, though, there is a secret port under the bottom band.

So maybe the middle ground is a future iPhone with a hidden, diagnostic port, usable by Apple to avoid having to crack the iPhone case to diagnose a phone gone wrong.