Apple Exploring Wireless Charging for iPhone as Early as 2013?

Jsameds said:

Unless a miracle occurs

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that's exactly what i'm expecting from apple

wireless charging , if only it could be done on any surface at any time

prefer battery

that means more accessories to buy

wireless power should have been picked up already but it hasn't

I wonder if it is a tech that is still one step from being useful.

Charging anywhere is more important than loosing the wire.

I'm not sure you can improve on the ubiquity of usb without another factor in there.

Apple could change the landscape but even induction for electric cars is failing to take off.

ConCat said:

See, the problem people have here is they don't understand the wireless charging market. Inductive charging is, to say the least, pointless because it requires the device to be tethered to something which is plugged in, why not just plug it directly into the phone? No real advantage here. There is another tech out there though that allows "true" wireless charging at a distance. This means that you can sit in your favorite chair watching movies on your iPad while the device is charging, and NOT tethered to the wall. That's real innovation. Inductive charging is not.

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My inductive electric toothbrush differs otherwise. Or the many medical devices that are implanted and the only way to charge is through inductive charging.

ConCat said:

It has to do with how much you can stuff in your phone. If you make it bigger for induction coils, you could have just put in more battery.

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I think you missed the full conversation because your comment is a non-sequitur. Conversation was on Apple spending R&D on better battery life vs on inductive charging. My point was that it's not a "pick one," zero-sum choice for Apple. They can do both simultaneously; likely are.

pecdg said:

Here's the deal folks, since I waded through 10 pages of FUD to get here...

This tech is not new. It was developed OVER 100 years ago by Nikola Tesla and was slated to be the delivery method for ALL electricity, but was mothballed because at the time, the electrical utilities had no way to meter consumption.

In essence, it consists of an antenna (tesla coil style, for transmitting and receiving longitudinal waves) and an RLC Tank circuit, on each end (where the power comes from and where it is going).

In the last ten years, there have been tremendous advances in the fields of fractal antenna design and digitally tuned RLC circuit design that are facilitating the new wave of non inductive power transmission technologies.

WiTricity is just the beginning, and in 20 years, nothing sold in stores that uses electricity will have external wires as every household will have a multi-node, password protected wireless power distribution appliance much like your WIFI router handles all the data in your house now.

By the way, I have seen experiments where power is transmitted in this fashion across dozens of miles...

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So if Say a company wanted to push a system in to the market where say a fixed node (or nodes in network) could then power a whole bunch of small electronics such as table lamps, remote controls and charging for phones and the like. Then partnering with Apple, Samsung or both to launch would pretty much cement their standard as the standard. Get a Light Globe maker like Philips on-board (or be Philips in the first place) and you'd have a very solid go to market plan.

Here's hoping they use WiTricity rather than simple induction.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=XRQ_kJtNB4Q#t=442s

donnaw said:

When (not if) Apple implements wireless charging it will be amusing to return to this thread and see who was blasting it as bad and how their tone changes once they begin to use it.

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Exactly. I bet the same people (Apple fanbois) ridiculing wireless charging NOW by calling it utterly unnecessary will praise it THEN.

Menneisyys2 said:

Exactly. I bet the same people (Apple fanbois) ridiculing wireless charging NOW by calling it utterly unnecessary will praise it THEN.

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This is assuming Apple introduces wireless charging in the exact same way as the rest of the competition.

No one is saying that wireless charging is pointless, just that its current implementation sucks. Apple is know to be late to the party when it comes to certain features (like LTE), but what we get in return is often a more polished or refined offering that offers benefits over and above what the other competitors can, or at least, fewer drawbacks.

Thus, we are hoping that when the iphone does get wireless charging, it will be implemented in a more convenient and hassle-free manner that works around many of the limitations of wireless charging today.

Abazigal said:

This is assuming Apple introduces wireless charging in the exact same way as the rest of the competition.

No one is saying that wireless charging is pointless, just that its current implementation sucks. Apple is know to be late to the party when it comes to certain features (like LTE), but what we get in return is often a more polished or refined offering that offers benefits over and above what the other competitors can, or at least, fewer drawbacks.

Thus, we are hoping that when the iphone does get wireless charging, it will be implemented in a more convenient and hassle-free manner that works around many of the limitations of wireless charging today.

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I would be VERY happy to have any kind of wireless charging with my iPad 3 and 4. I pick them up all the time when I need to go somewhere in the building (to fetch some tea etc.) but prefer them to be on the charger in the meantime because of the comparatively bad battery life. A wireless charger would be a godsend, even if it's just a slow(er) one and doesn't come near the 2.0 / 2.2A original wired Apple chargers.

MattInOz said:

So if Say a company wanted to push a system in to the market where say a fixed node (or nodes in network) could then power a whole bunch of small electronics such as table lamps, remote controls and charging for phones and the like. Then partnering with Apple, Samsung or both to launch would pretty much cement their standard as the standard. Get a Light Globe maker like Philips on-board (or be Philips in the first place) and you'd have a very solid go to market plan.

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You see the possibilities... In fact, philips just announced an SDK for their HUE lighting system, so you can integrate control of their multi node lighting system into your new iPhone / iPad / Mac app.

One important point usually ignored when discussing the upfront cost of these systems is that the average house has close to a thousand or more dollars in copper in the walls. Eliminate this copper with a wireless distribution appliance (that costs a couple hundred dollars) and you not only save money on the copper itself but also save the ten grand the electrician charges you to put it all in when doing new or renovation construction. This drives down the cost of housing worldwide and provides environmental benefits from the decrease in required mining activity.

Admittedly, this is a rosy long term outlook, and there is bound to be political red tape (endless FUD) but practicality and economy are hard facts in the business world at the end of the day.

I remember here that the iPhone 5 was suppose to have Wireless charging, as well as curved edge-to-edge class, and no home button.
But hey!, that's why it called , and we love, MacRumors.

Sylon said:

"Apple is said to be working on their own wireless charging system..."

Because the industry standard is apparently too good for them. That means nothing on the market right now will work with it, allowing Apple to charge up the ass for the accessories.

"The charger will still have to be plugged into a wall outlet..."

No **** sherlock. Its not going to manifest energy out of thin air.


As an owner of an Android device (gasp!) and also owning a wireless charging dock for it, I can say that they are pretty convenient to have. You don't have to worry about plugging the cable into the bottom of the phone, which isn't the most fun task to do in the dark. It helps reduce the wear on both the cable and the port on the phone. And I also heard that the wireless charger helps reduce the stress of charging on the battery, thus prolonging its life. Now that last part is speculation, its just what I heard.

They are somewhat of a novelty, sure. But they are pretty cool and add some convenience to the mundane task of charging your phone.

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Did you forget to put /s at the end?

jagolden said:

it's not that it's bad, it just han't been done ight and the current solutions are not "wireless". What will be interesting is to return to this thread and see the posts praising Apple for doing it right and truly wireless.

Being physicaly tied to any kind of dock is not "wireless". Anyone saying it's too much touble to plug in a conector is jusT lazy.

Those that complain about broken connectors are simply abusing their phones or lazy in their handling. I'm still using a 3GS, gets charged at least daily, is plugged and unplugged from iTunes a couple of times a day, has had the older style 30-pin plug yanked out without pressing in the release buttons and have never had any problems.

When truly wireless charging (meaning not chained to any dock) comes along, then I'll care.

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Please explain exactly what you would deem to be 'truly wireless'. Unless you really prefer to have electrical currents flowing all around you at all times I can't see a way to not have some sort of a dock. Sheesh, talk about 'vampire' wattage! Oh and for those who question it, some folks with the Nokia chargers have tested then and found that they truly draw no charge unless the phone is on it.

And I beg to differ, it's not laziness, it's convience. Much like the remote for a TV. When remotes first came out I thought I would never have one because it would be lazy to no want to get up to change the channel. HA!

If you don't want it you don't have to use it. I highly doubt that anyone will make a phone with wireless charging and leave out a way to use a plug too. At least not until wireless charging stations are ubiquitous. And that day may come but not for a while.

Jsameds said:

Not really.

Wireless charging is currently a step backwards from what we already have, it's slower, less efficient, less convenient and more expensive - so it's more like going from living in a cave back to living in trees again.

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I would love to see someone describe how setting a device down onto a charging pad is less convenient than plugging a cable into the bottom of it and then setting it down somewhere.

phillq23 said:

Did you forget to put /s at the end?

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What are you talking about?

Apple made the right move. IMHO, it's time someone starts dealing with the development of wireless charging system. And I think if someone started it now, in just a few years, it will be much more handy—not just about charging phones or tablets as we see it nowadays.

Well, at first the system might be flawed—slower charging, inefficient, etc., but who knows how advanced the system be in the future versions of the development?

Say, if no one dealt with that wireless charging thing in the beginning, then we will never see any advancement of it in the upcoming years.

We start from zero, or something poor, and we make it better—one step at a time. Isn't that how development works? Isn't that how technology moves forward? Reminds me of this saying: "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step". (I forgot who said it tho )

Cheers.

coltman75 said:

How would you go about charging in your car?

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Here's how http://press.nokia.com/products/613/nokia-wireless-car-charger It's just a cradle (where's your imagination!)

Benefits
1) Phone batteries like to be continually topped up and anything that makes that easier will increase the long-term life of your battery.
2) One of the most wearable/breakable parts of the phone is the plug, so the less it is used the better!
3) The Qi wireless standard can be more electrically efficient than standard wall chargers because it operates on less standby power than normal wall chargers.

I hope Apple don't ruin the party with a proprietary wireless standard. Qi chargers are already being put into cafés and airports around the world and I'd hate that good work to be undone.

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Raizen.Z09 said:

Apple made the right move. IMHO, it's time someone starts dealing with the development of wireless charging system.

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There's already a good wireless charging standard used by leading smartphone manufacturers and it's more efficient than standard wall chargers - based on the amount of wall chargers that are left plugged in 100% of the time and that the Qi charger uses less power at standby.

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a0me said:

there's a couple of issues with this technology which makes it not worth the trouble.

First, you need to carry the wireless charging pad and its power supply around instead of just a small USB cable.

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The phone also charges via USB, just carry the cable!!!! Put the wireless charger where it's most useful like your office, bedside, or living area.

It's like Tim Cook said, "what's the good of wireless charging, it just adds an extra cable." lol.

Prof. said:

Well ****, why not just make a solar powered iPhone?

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For all the solar powered comments, it's been tried and in perfect conditions it adds maybe a few minutes to a smartphone battery life, and maybe a few hours for a featurephone.
And then you need to carry the phone dangling around your neck or something and not in your pocket and you need to leave it in the sun all the time which also isn't good for the longevity of the phone.

BvizioN said:

Lightning does a bit more then charging. Third party accessories to start with?

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yeah... but wouldn't be great if every thing went wireless?

szw-mapple fan said:

yeah... but wouldn't be great if every thing went wireless?

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Sure it would and it will. But not until it works close to perfect. Rushing on implementing new tech has proven to be not so good for us consumers.

BvizioN said:

Sure it would and it will. But not until it works close to perfect. Rushing on implementing new tech has proven to be not so good for us consumers.

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Good Point.

CHOE Qi wireless Charging Pad

I think you guys should try out with CHOE Qi wireless Charging Pad for Nexus 4 Samsung Galaxy S4 and Iphone 5 Black in Color.Works with any Qi-enabled device through an adapter or an embedded chip

Power Source: AC Adaptor plugs into charging pad

Freedom of Placement: No annoying magnets to align or secret spots to find in order to charge your device. The wireless charging pad is Qi standard, you can charge any Qi-enabled device today, tomorrow and beyond with Light indicator to show charging status.

I got it from amazon then was going for $24

It works well with iPhone 5 smartphones.