“As Apple moves toward a wireless charging future, the company has announced that it will be developing a mat to charge multiple Apple devices at once — called the AirPower,” Anna Hensel reports for VentureBeat.
Apple broke “the news on Tuesday at its annual keynote event, after revealing that the upcoming iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X would all have wireless charging capabilities, as expected,” Hensel reports. “The Apple Watch has always had wireless charging.”
Hensel reports, “Apple also announced that the AirPower charging mat will be coming in 2018, but didn’t give a specific date.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: It’s “wireless” (when you ignore the required wired mat).
As we know from our Apple Watch units, it’s a minor convenience to be able to charge inductively. Easier to do in the dark, for example. But, in the end, a wire is still required.
We’ll have to keep waiting for true wireless charging over meaningful distances.
Since they offer the leather case as an accessory to the iPhone X, do you thing it will charge wirelessly with the case on?
Yes – systems like that should work through leather or plastic cases, but not metal cases.
I couldn’t quite tell if 3rd party makers (like Mophie) might have the charging mat sooner. Anyone know?
Yes and no. Yes, in that Apple announced that Qi charging will work with any charger that meets the standard. Those are already available from third parties and the Apple Stores will carry at least two brands.
No, in that the AirPower mat that allows charging three (or more) devices at once represents an extension to the standard and will only be available from Apple and those third parties that choose to adopt the extension.
Why not incorporate a wireless charging dock into the lip of an iMac stand? Seems a perfect place to put it if truly wireless charging isn’t available.
What an innovation from Apple! A product coming out “next year” that has been around for years- like Qi charging!
Oh, and if you want to fast charge your iPhone- (already been on Android for years), you’ll have to pay over $70 more dollars because they don’t include a power supply for fast charge or a USB-C to Lightning cable! Way to go ACookie!
Did your crystal ball tell you all those details about a product that has only just been announced, but that will not be finalized or released for at least three months yet?
Gee, you really hate Apple. Except yo You are far more ridiculous than any Apple fan, because Apple fans at least have a reason for their passion. You are just a sad nego with nothing better to do with your time than criticize an excellent firm and excellent products.
android?
the malware infested crap?
don’t even want to go into a debate as it’s a waste of time, just like to point out the the supposedly most innovative Number One Android Phone of last year was busily setting garages, houses and cars on fire, so bad that every major airline had to ban it….
that was supposed to be the BEST Android phone out there.
imagine the not-best….
there’s a reason why Apple takes 80%+ of the cellphone profits of the world…
I’ve tried several wireless charging adapters for my current iPhone. Most works for a short time and then stop working. Both charging pads and receivers.
So I’m happy Apple is doing so because it will probably work reproducibly versus the unreliable experience I’ve had so far.
It took “courage” for Apple to release old charging and display technology at a future price!
It took courage to appear on TV after your latest facelift. Why did Phil allow that? Does he wear the pants in the family, or is he powerless in the face of your relentless narcissism?
Quick question ppl, does the iPhone X also have a lightning connector as a charging alternative to the wireless charger? Thanks in advance ☺️
Absolutely. The connector is still needed for other purposes.
anyone know if the wireless charging will work with phone cover ?? I am guessing it wont, but hope i am wrong
I don’t think so. A bumper case will probably be needed to use wireless charging.
So we avoid the pain of hooking up a lightning cable but have to take our phone out of the case.
That’s innovation!
Inductive charging rapidly becomes less effective with distance. But it seems possible that it may still work with a typical iPhone case with some degradation in charging performance. You made me curious…I will try to find the time to look into this issue.
However, if your case happens to be constructed of a material that would interact with the magnetic field from the charger, then the charger probably would not work well, if at all.
It should. Android phones charge through a case.
What is it with Apple these days announcing things that are more than a month (or even six months to a year) away? And why on Earth couldn’t they have this ready on time. They knew they were going to do Xi charging for a long time now. Surely they have the resources to hire enough engineers and designers to get the job done. HomePod is another example of this since it was announced months ago and won’t show until December.
MDN, we have covered this several times. The current approach is “true wireless charging.” Every charging scheme attaches to a wire at some frigging point along the way. The issue is the allowable distance between the item being powered/charged wirelessly from the charging device, itself.
Beamed power via microwave, infrared laser, etc. is possible. But you have to convert from electricity to the transmission beam on one end and then back to electricity on the other. Right now, those steps are horribly inefficient. And the beam generation and tracking/steering technologies are still mostly experimental.
Learn a little science and engineering before you start rolling your eyes at Apple for failing to deliver “wireless” charging.