“On December 22, 2011, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a pair of patent applications from Apple that reveal greater detailing of their next generation Fuel Cell project,” Jack Purcher reports for Patently Apple.
“The new fuel cells will one day power both iOS and OS X portable devices like the iPhone and MacBook for days, if not weeks at a time,” Purcher reports. “In October we covered Apple’s first patent on fuel cell technology in respect to fuel cell plates. Today’s patents provide us with greater detail of their fuel cell technology project that even considers implementing MagSafe as a key connector for fuel cell recharging between an iOS device like the iPhone and a MacBook.”
Purcher reports, “The race is on to bring next generation fuel cell technology to future portable devices and it appears that Apple may be on the verge of a major breakthrough on this front. ”
Much more in the full article, including Apple’s patent app illustrations, here.
And again, htc and others will copy Apple’s innovations and they will pretend they are innovating by copying.
Fuel cell? I was hoping for a 2-stroke gas engine.
Yam-ah-ha-ha-ha-ha
FLAN developments in energy technology that recycle heat will one day mean that BUTR batteries will never need to be recharged.
BUTR on my FLAN?
That is RICH….
This is nothing.
Ballmer will announce at CES that Microsoft has been powering its vaporware via wind for years….
I’m sure its his wind -LOL
an ill wind blows no good!
From the article it seems that water is a potential waste product as a side affect of the chemical reactions. Does this mean future devices will come with weap holes?
maybe they could use that water to help cool the device. As the water evaporates it would draw heat away. Like humans sweating. But hopefully without the smell
Apple is going to redefine vaporware.
Indeed. O2 + 2H2 = 2H2O. Vent off the steam and use your laptop as a humidifier.
You probably meant weep holes. Although the only ones who’ll be crying are the companies—industries, possibly—upended in the wake of the Apple dreadnought.
Perhaps ‘weep’ holes. More likely the moisture would be exhausted as water vapor.
Ah the advantages of controlling the whole hardware/software widget. MS will keep falling further and further behind as they depend on other copycat partners in ways Apple would never dream of. The superior approach wins out. Apple competition’s always running way behind a fast moving train. Now that Apple has money, and lots of it, nothing can hold them back from true innovative excellence now and products way ahead of the curve.
If this new technology has the ability to power for days if not weeks from its power juice versus the hours to a day we have now, wait for that occasional story of a fuel cell overheating and catching fire… Probably look like one of those Tibetian Monk setting themself ablaze… Not gonna be pretty…
There you go with those negative waves, man!!
ahhh, now I gotta retro fit my Ford Pinto with one of them fuel cells
Running my Apple devices for days or weeks. Let it be so and let it be soon. This could be a killer app, for sure.
Cue TSA panic in 3… 2…
Much as I like fuel cells as a method of storing energy (from wind, solar…), I am having trouble picturing the swap out of the fuel cells every few weeks, or whatever. It sounds annoying and expensive to me.
What are the details? You buy a couple cells up front, swap and recharge them back and forth at the local Apple store as they die?
My prediction is that fuel cells will be used for special applications requiring unwired power for long periods of time. I do NOT see them becoming any de facto power source tech for Joe and Jane Blow.
I also don’t see users recharging the fuel cells themselves at home. Blowing up one’s house via accidental H2 gassing from the charger does not appeal to me.
It would be no different than filling up a butane lighter or torch. People do it every day without problems.
As I understand it, you can refuel fuel cells with a variety of hydrocarbons, either liquids like alcohol or lighter fluid, or gasses, like butane. Of course would depend on the cell in question. The point being you fuel them, not return them. Although Apple may make it non-user serviceable, like their other batteries.
CO2 is also a byproduct along with the H20. However, in both cases, the amount would be small.
If we could use a MagSafe Connector from an iPhone to a MacBook to recharge, then I’m not sure it’s really about fuel as it is about recharging the battery that is made up of these new fuels. The patent states that one device like a macbook could wirelessly charge anouther portable device. If you could recharge the battery wirelessly, then I hightly doubt that there’s any fuel used to recharge the unit.
Say goodbye to carrying laptops and other mobile devices on airplanes…