A vague rumour from DigiTimes suggests that Apple may in fact be planning to phase out the Lightning port on next year’s iPhone models in favor of a USB-C port. While recent reports make it seem likely that Apple will actually begin bundling a USB-C charger in this year’s iPhones, the DigiTimes report suggests the possibility of native USB-C support on the iPhones themselves.
Although as MacRumors notes, the wording is quite vague, it does seem odd that DigiTimes would make the prediction for 2019 if it was simply referring to a change to the charger and cable, unless the report is suggesting that Apple may not be planning to include the USB-C charger with its 2018 iPhones. Of course, it’s also worth keeping in mind that DigiTimes has not been a particularly reliable source of pre-release information, so such rumours should be taken with the appropriate grain of salt.