“Since iPhones have all looked the same for so long now, it’s perfectly understandable that Apple fans are fixating on the iPhone 8’s new design,” Zach Epstein reports for BGR. “But there’s much more to this book than just its cover, and a new leak may have just confirmed one of the upcoming iPhone 8’s hottest new features.”
“Thursday morning from Weibo (via Slashleaks) includes two images of a curious component that has had no place in previous iPhone,” Epstein reports. “This is the part that will presumably enable wireless charging in Apple’s upcoming iPhone 8.”
“Wireless charging had long been rumored for Apple’s next-generation iPhone,” Epstein reports, “but this is the first time we’ve seen any physical evidence at all.”
Read more and see the photos in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: So-called wireless charging. Unless you consider Qi’s maximum distance between wired charger base/cable to be “wireless.” It sounds like we’ll be waiting at least another year for true wireless charging at a distance (à la Energous).
Right now, the Apple Watch’s charging system is nice because it’s less fiddly, and especially useful in the dark, but it’s still essentially a wired charging system in practice. If Apple offers Qi-type charging, it’ll be fine, but will not be a big selling point – unless it offers considerably faster charging than today. – MacDailyNews, April 27, 2017
SEE ALSO:
John Gruber: Apple’s wireless charging accessory won’t be ready at iPhone launch this year – July 8, 2017
Apple supplier confirms new iPhone models will be ‘waterproof’ with wireless charging – June 14, 2017
iPhone 8 renders from highly detailed CAD file point to glass back, embedded Home button, wireless charging – May 16, 2017
Apple’s next-gen iPhone to pack revolutionary wireless over-the-air charging at a distance? – May 11, 2017
Apple patent application focuses on truly wireless charging via Wi-Fi – April 27, 2017
Apple has at least five different groups working on wireless charging technology – February 23, 2017
Apple joins Wireless Power Consortium – February 13, 2017
Apple’s ‘iPhone X’ to feature wireless charging and iris scanning technology, sources say – February 10, 2017
KGI’s Ming Chi Kuo predicts wireless charging for all three new iPhones – February 9, 2017
More evidence suggests Apple tie-up with true wireless charging firm Energous – December 21, 2016
Apple supplier Dialog partners with wireless charging company Energous – December 15, 2016
Ming-Chi Kuo: Apple’s next-gen iPhone to feature all-glass case for wireless charging – November 23, 2016
If the phone has to rest on something to charge, it’s even more useless than an actual cable. You can still hold and use the device when charging with a cable. Real wireless charging would work a lot like wifi and less like a docking station.
Precisely!
Wearing your watch while having it tethered through a charging cable would be pretty useless. It makes sense to take your watch off to charge it.
Unless the phone battery has such a superb capacity that it just never runs out in 24 hours, there are times when I need to be able to keep using it while charging. A cable works pretty well during these times.
As for what charging system the next Apple Watch will have, we really just have to wait till it’s announced. After all, we’ve already been told that the finger print reader will be on the back on the front, and on the side.
It won’t *only* be wireless charging. You’ll still be able to charge it the current way (heh).
Rumor, despite the nifty images. But yes, this looks to be a ‘wireless’ induction charging system requiring close contact with the charger. IOW: Just like the Watch.
Whether this will remove the option of wired charging, we shall see. I sorta doubt it. I see the Lightning connector continuing to be part of the iPhone with all its functionality intact.
The pre-relase rumors continue to roll out.
If this is a “huge leak,” I wonder what makes it “huge.” Is it any more reliable than the scores of leaks that have been floating out there so far in this pre-release cycle?
“May confirm” does not seem all that definitive to me.
One advantage is to eliminate the problem with pocket “crud” entering the connector and preventing it from charging, as what happened to me a month ago.
They can’t remove the lightning port..that will be there for at least a few more years..
Well, they need some sort of port, not necessarily Lightning. Replacing Lightning with USB-C would upset some people with Lightning accessories (but make others of us very happy), but removing the port altogether would piss off a lot of people with CarPlay.
The energy decreases with the square root of the distance (eg twice the distance, only a quarter of the strenght; three times the distance, only a ninth of the strength).
The amount of energy is proportional to a point on the surface area of a sphere and decreases with the third root of the distance (eg twice the dustance, one eight of the energy is available; three times the distance, only one 27th is available).
You can somewhat ameliorate the massive losses by using direct beams (eg go from the third root back to the square root), but trying to wirelessly charge anything other than microdevices (which have very low energy requirements) is not and never will be economical or practical as it simply takes too long abd costs too much.
It’s good to see someone else posting this.
People don’t realize that there are basic physics at work here that simply won’t change. We’ve had wireless power technology for a long time now. It was first discovered in 1874 and the first implementation in devices in 1904.
Not much has changed since then.
We’ve discovered slightly better materials. We’ve developed beam forming which helps slightly. We’ve also been able to pair with encryption (which doesn’t help with efficiency at all, but does allow only authorized devices to charge). And that’s it. In over 100 years, we’ve had very slight progress on true wireless charging.
Sure… people will say… “but new technology and research!” Yes, however at this point we don’t see anything that can be developed yet.
The best hope we have for wireless power is to have ultra-efficient devices and/or cheap enough power that we’re willing to waste a lot of it.
None of this is going to happen soon in any practical way.
The Inverse-Square Law
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverse-square_law
There are ways around it, but they’re highly directional, as with lasers. No walking around the room. And then there’s that mysterious health effect of massive radio EM exposure.
And my usual comment that this technology goes back to Nikola Tesla at the end of the 19th century.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_power_transfer#Tesla