“Apple Inc. is working with partners in the U.S. and Asia to develop new wireless charging technology that could be deployed on its mobile devices as soon as next year, according to people familiar with the plans,” Tim Culpan reports for Bloomberg.
“Apple is exploring cutting-edge technologies that would allow iPhones and iPads to be powered from further away than the charging mats used with current smartphones, the people said, asking not to be identified as the details are private,” Culpan reports. “The iPhone maker is looking to overcome technical barriers including loss of power over distance with a decision on implementing the technology still being assessed, they said.”
“Samsung Electronics Co., Sony Corp. and Google Inc. are among rivals that have released wirelessly-charged smartphones that still require proximity to a charging plate,” Culpan reports. “Apple has previously played down its interest in any charging technology that still needs to be plugged into a wall socket because such methods would add little convenience.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Now, that would be useful! Right now, the Apple Watch wireless charging is nice because it’s less fiddly, and especially useful in the dark, but it’s still essentially a corded charging system in practice.
SEE ALSO:
iPhone 7 and the potential for wireless charging – January 19, 2016
Apple will drop headphone jack to make the iPhone 7 super slim, source confirms; wireless charging and waterproof, too – January 7, 2016
Apple looks to patent inductive charging system that could power an Apple Pencil or even a future kitchen appliance – January 7, 2016
Apple files 5th wireless inductive charging patent application since Late September – November 5, 2015\
Apple patent application reveals iPhone inductive charging sans extra hardware – October 8, 2015
Patent application reveals Apple working on wireless charging systems focused on rapid power delivery – August 27, 2015
Apple invents inductive charging interfaces for mobile devices – April 2, 2015
Apple ‘iPhone 7’ models likely to offer wireless charging – April 2, 2015
I can’t wait to finally find out how far long range charging is, how fast long range charging is, and how much it costs.
Do you think this device will recharge the Apple car?
thought of that too.
a private charger under your home’s parking place, others in public parking places, even more in slow traffic areas, e.g. in front of traffic lights.
App;le has patented a number of things related to this. The range appears to be around a metre, which is significantly more than the close proximity ( virtually touching ) that most wireless charging stations require.
“Do you think this device will recharge the Apple car?”
No.
When you’re transferring many kilowatts of power as rapidly as possible, efficiency is a very important consideration. A copper cable will be close to 100% efficient, but wireless systems will not be anything like that efficient. Even if a wireless system were 90% efficient, you’d be wasting a great deal of power every time you recharged an electric car.
That wasted power would end up as heat somewhere, which amounts to quite a lot of heat, The charging time will be longer than when using a cable, assuming that the battery is able to use as much current as the mains supply can deliver.
Probably based on this patent they were granted back in 2013. I wouldn’t imagine the range is going to be significant – not like you’d have the charging device plugged in on your night stand, and you’ll be charging your iPhone, iPad, MacBook etc., from the other side of the house. Probably more like – you’d plug the charger in, attach it to the back of your nightstand, and any / all of your devices would charge when placed somewhere on the nightstand.
Hmmm. Long lost Tesla notes…
I want wireless charging for the sheer fact that the lightning ports always are so spotty after a year or two, sometimes its takes me 3 minutes to finally get the cord to charge the device.
Never heard of that issue. Never had a problem with lightning ports. If you have AppleCare then go to an Apple store and get a replacement or repair.
Take the pocket lint out of the port.
I’ll second that advice. Tell my kids that whatever pocket they put it in, to pull it inside out and get all lint and debris out of it. Amazing what is in there. Have owned many Touches and iPhones. All 30 pin and Lighting ports work great.
I’ve made this supposition before, too. It has always turned out to actually be that the cable has developed a short near the connector. The cables are not as enduring as I would like! But the port has not been a problem for me at all.
Wireless charging is being added to more and more vehicles in the form of charging mats. That is a situation that doesn’t require a corded charger. It would be handy to drop your phone on the mat and have it connect via Bluetooth to CarPlay, while still being charged. Of course, if you didn’t even have to take it out of your pocket to charge it in the car, that would be cool, too. Still, I’d wonder about long-term EMR exposure in a situation like that.
Even moreso than signals, power transfer is best when wired.
No wireless charging solution has ever provided the value that wired charging does. Compared to a wire, inductive charging systems are slower, costlier, more complicated, make both the device and the charger bigger in size.
I just don’t see any practical advantage to abandoning the technical superiority of a wire just so some stupid designer can draw a pretty thin device with no ports. Apple is wasting its time attempting to do non-value-added BS like this when its formerly loyal customers are dying from lack of overdue product updates to the entire Mac and iPod lineups and to pro level software, not to mention the antiquated accessories that Apple hasn’t updated in half a decade.
THIS is why Wall Street doesn’t trust Apple. They know that Tim is wasting money on overpriced executives, Beats thugs, round offices, toy cars and inefficient chargers instead of delivering things like up-to-date 4″ screen phones and competitive software & hardware. The relative advantage of owning an Apple product compared to other brands, with many exceptions of course, is NOT what it used to be.
I think wireless charging is the stupidest “feature” to ever come down the pike. As someone who runs their devices 99% of the time plugged into a wired charger, why would anyone want to wirelessly charge anything? You can’t run the devices while they are wirelessly charging. So what’s the point?🤔
Wireless charging is even more stupid than bluetooth mice. F#$&ing waste of time replacing batteries and attempting to connect. I’m looking at you, Apple.