“A recently dug up patent application shows that Apple may be working on integrated wireless charging that will allow your iMac or Macbook Pro to wirelessly charge your other Apple devices,” Rue Liu reports for SlashGear.
“Apple’s patent application describes the system as ‘Wireless power utilization in a local computing environment,'” Liu reports. “It is based on the ‘mid range wireless power transfer physics’ and makes use of wireless near field magnetic resonance (NFMR) power transmission to power devices up to 1 meter distant.”
Liu reports, “The NFMR power supply will be integrated into iMacs and Macbook Pros and will create a 1-meter zone in which peripherals such as mice, keyboards, iPods, iPhones, and iPads can be wirelessly charged.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Attribution: TUAW. Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Lynn Weiler” for the heads up.]
ohhh sweet! cutting the cables for good =D
Now that is something I could really use! Time to market? 2015 or later I fear.
My wifes electric tooth brush recharges on its stand. No electrical connection. It does have a magnetic connection like a transformer. It will be interesting to see it done over a short distance.
Toothbrush is connected by wires you just don’t see them
If it’s the Oral B Professional Care SmartSeries 5000, it uses electromagnetic induction, there are no exposed wires on the brush or the base.
Inductive coupling. Two transformers coupled by a magnetic field. Current flow through one induces current flow through the other.
I’m wirelessly happy
What does that do to us humans? Brain cancer? Irritability?
maybe enhanced performance
It’s like coffee. But better.
Blasphemy. Nothing is better than coffee.
I’ll take sex over coffee any day.
Great. Now I’m going to have to increase the thickness of my lead underwear. All we need is more electromagnetic radiation flowing through us. It’s clearly the source of increasing autism, cancer rates, birth defects, and stoopidity.
Electeonics more so than vaccines?! We now give our kids substantially many more injected drugs in vaccines than all European kids ever receive. Are our kids any healthier? No, often they’re less healthy thanks to mercury and formahdyhide and the vaccines themselves. Don’t believe the government’s health experts. They’re in big pharma’s pocket.
Bullshit!
I had the same question. also how efficient wireless charging process? I’d imagine that 80% of the energy will be lost during transmissions
Not to worry; most of Apple’s patents are to never appear on real mass-produced products (the more so by IBM, Samsung, which file much more patent applications).
My credit card uses wireless charging, and that hurts.
And HP (read: Palm) has been using it for a while now as its Touchstone devices. However, I think it has to be laying on top of the charger…
Well, leave it to Apple to find an interesting way to implement a technology without having to use add-on charging mats and matching cases. I Like it. That said, leave it to Apple to provide this feature … and then not allow access to third parties, meaning iPhone users will still need to physically plug in beside their bed.
This sounds much different from electromagnetic induction, like that found on products today such as phone charge pads or electric toothbrushes.
It sounds more like Wireless Resonant Energy. See this from Research@Intel 2009:
http://connectedsocialmedia.com/4487/wireless-resonant-energy-link-efficient-wireless-power-researchintel-day/