The Smartphone Hardware Features That Will Disappear Next
Remember when every phone had a removable battery, a headphone jack, and a physical keyboard? All gone now — and the pruning isn't close to finished. Manufacturers are still chasing thinner bodies, cleaner fronts, and fewer points of failure, and that means several more hardware staples are living on borrowed time. Here's what's next on the chopping block, and why.
1. The front camera cutout
The notch, then the punch-hole — both were always meant to be temporary. The real goal has been an under-display selfie camera that leaves the screen completely uninterrupted, and we've already seen early versions of the tech in devices like the Galaxy Z Fold 3. The problem right now is image quality: under-screen sensors still can't match a conventional front camera in low light (MakeUseOf
). Techtimes reports that 2026-era phones are already leaning on 48MP under-display optics to kill off pop-up and cutout cameras for good, calling out the dust-resistance and mechanical-failure benefits of ditching moving parts entirely (Tech Times).
2. The wired charging port
Apple killed the headphone jack to push wireless audio, and the charging port looks like it's getting the same treatment — likely to promote proprietary wireless charging standards (MakeUseOf). Motorola's VP of Design told Digital Trends flat out: "we could even expect to see phones that are just entirely a display" as ports get engineered out of existence (Digital Trends). Tech Times pegs the tipping point to Qi2 wireless charging hitting 50W — now actually faster than some wired setups — which removes the last practical reason to keep a port at all (Tech Times).
3. Rear and side fingerprint scanners
The classic capacitive scanner bolted onto the back or side of a phone is a stopgap technology, not a destination. As AMOLED panels get cheaper and trickle down into budget phones, ultrasonic in-display sensors are pushing the old-style scanner into extinction — they even work with wet or dirty fingers, which the old capacitive pucks never handled well (iXBT, Tech Times).
4. Physical SIM trays (and the microSD slot riding along with it)
eSIM adoption is quietly finishing off the physical nano-SIM, which was already the smallest and last iteration of a format that's been shrinking for over a decade. And because microSD slots are usually built into the same tray assembly, they're set to disappear right along with it once carriers fully commit to eSIM (iXBT). Tech Times adds that 2TB of internal UFS storage plus cloud backup has made expandable storage largely redundant anyway (Tech Times).
5. Physical buttons
Motorola has already demoed UltraSense, a system that brings tap-and-slide gesture control to any surface on the phone, explicitly designed to make traditional buttons obsolete (Digital Trends). The logic is the same one that killed the physical home button: gesture navigation plus haptic feedback can replace mechanical buttons without losing functionality, while sealing off more openings that let in dust and water (Tech Times).
6. Notification LEDs and IR blasters
Android Authority has been tracking this shift since 2017, and it's basically complete now: notification LEDs have given way to always-on displays and haptics, which sip far less battery (Android Authority). IR blasters are in the same spot — voice assistants and Wi-Fi now handle smart-home and TV control across protocols automatically, so there's no reason left to keep the extra chip and emitter on the board (Tech Times).
7. Front-facing stereo speaker grilles
Front-facing speakers have already "trended down" for years as manufacturers squeezed bezels tighter, according to Android Authority's teardown of fading phone features (Android Authority). The eventual replacement is display-as-speaker technology, where the screen itself vibrates to produce sound instead of relying on a dedicated grille cut into the chassis — a natural next step once audio quality closes the gap.
What's actually driving all of this
| Feature fading out | Replacement tech | Why it's disappearing |
|---|
| Feature fading out | Replacement tech | Why it's disappearing |
|---|
| Front camera cutout | Under-display camera | Uninterrupted screen, fewer moving parts (MakeUseOf) |
| Wired charging port | Qi2 wireless (up to 50W) | Faster than wired, better water resistance (Tech Times) |
| Rear fingerprint scanner | Ultrasonic in-display sensor | Works wet/dirty, cleaner back panel (iXBT) |
| SIM tray + microSD slot | eSIM + cloud/internal storage | Space savings, carrier flexibility (iXBT) |
| Physical buttons | Gesture + haptic controls | Fewer failure points, sleeker design (Digital Trends) |
| Notification LED / IR blaster | Always-on display + voice assistants | Redundant hardware, less power draw (Android Authority) |
| Speaker grille | Display-as-speaker | Cleaner chassis, tighter bezels (Android Authority) |
The bottom line
Every feature on this list is following the same script the headphone jack wrote back in 2016: a physical component sticks around only until its wireless or software-based replacement gets "good enough," and then manufacturers reclaim that space for battery capacity or a slimmer chassis (Digital Trends; Android Authority). It's a trade-off you don't get to vote on — but if history is any guide, most of us adapt within a generation and barely notice the missing part five years later.