I think Apple’s response will be to go port-free, like the Apple Watch. The eSIM move was one of the last steps.
Apple couldn’t get AirPower to be good enough to release - I don’t see a world where iPhones transition to wireless charging any time soon. The next iPhone will be USB-C, aligning with all current iPads and Macs. I don’t think Apple are even particularly against it; they’re just afraid of the backlash they got after changing connector last time and would rather put that off as long as possible.