Apple Possibly Working With Energous on Extended Range Wireless Charging for Future iPhones

[MacRumors]

Amid rumors that Apple is working on extended range wireless charging capabilities for future iPhones, there has been some speculation that Apple has partnered with Energous to implement the technology. Energous is the company behind WattUp, an emerging wireless charging technology that uses radio frequencies to charge devices from up to 15 feet away.

Though there's no concrete proof of a relationship between Energous and Apple, a new research report from Louis Basenese of Disruptive Tech Research highlights a large pool of circumstantial evidence pointing towards a potential partnership, so it's worth taking a look at Energous's technology, both in that context and as an example of the wireless charging techniques that are currently being pursued by tech companies.

Basenese posits Apple is working with a partner rather than developing an in-house solution due to the small number of patents the company has filed surrounding wireless charging -- just five, with none filed since 2013. As evidence that partner is Energous, he points towards their common manufacturing partners (TSMC and Foxconn), their membership in ANSI working towards standards for wireless power transfer compliance testing, and most notably, the fact that Energous's RF-based wireless charging system is the only long-distance solution nearly ready to launch.

In early 2015, Energous also inked a deal with an unnamed consumer electronics company, positioned as one of the top five companies in the world. Names weren't mentioned, but that's a short list -- Apple, Samsung, HP, Microsoft, and Hitachi. Basenese believes Apple is the likeliest partner by process of elimination.

From that list, we can easily eliminate HP and Hitachi, as they don't make phones. Since Samsung makes its own chips and WATT is working with TSM, we can cross it off the list, leaving only Apple and Microsoft. In reality, though, Microsoft is an also-ran in the mobile phone market and rumored to be exiting it. So we're left with one company. Of course, the identity will remain a mystery, as AAPL's notorious about insisting on secrecy with partners and employees.

Wireless charging capabilities have been implemented into several smartphones, including those from Apple's direct competitors, but Apple executives have downplayed wireless charging in the past due to its dependence on built-in chips, mats, and close proximity. In a 2012 interview, Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller said it wasn't clear "how much convenience" magnetic induction and resonance wireless charging systems offered because they still need to be plugged into the wall.


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Article Link: Apple Possibly Working With Energous on Extended Range Wireless Charging for Future iPhones

 

[needfx]

Queue the lawsuits for accidental genital electrocutions

 

[Gooberton]

YES PLEASE. shut Samsung and their wall hugger campaign up! Yet they will copy right after

 

[techpr]

Imagine this tech on future Apple Watch.

 

[Serban]

yes, this is a true wireless charging

 

[gabriel193755]

YES PLEASE. shut Samsung and their wall hugger campaign up! Yet they will copy right after

The only two things that I am sure in this life:
-Everybody is going to die one day.
-Samsung will copy.

 

[RobQuads]

This is the sort of wireless charging that I have been waiting for.

The cableless desk is getting closer (without relying on batteries)

 

[BvizioN]

The only two things that I am sure in this life:
-Everybody is going to die one day.
-Samsung will copy.

And am not too sure about the first one

 

[1Zach1]

I hope by "future" they mean the iPhone 7-series.

 

[Fattytail]

I hope by "future" they mean the iPhone 7-series.

It's mentioned in the article that it won't happen for the iPhone 7.

 

[BanditoB]

Cue the hysterical claims that it causes cancer or that folks are allergic to wireless charging/power.

 

[1Zach1]

It's mentioned in the article that it won't happen for the iPhone 7.

I know, there are really only two things I care to see in new iPhones: Wireless charging at a distance, smaller overall size of the phone. I don't believe I will see either of these for years, but there isn't much else that interests me in new phones.

 

[Corrode]

I know technology moves fast but wireless charging like this is actually mind-boggling.

 

[tkermit]

So how does this work? If it really "harvests" radio waves and converts it into DC, wouldn't the sender's power output be severely higher than that of other devices like routers and therefore potentially problematic for one's health?

 

[Oblivious.Robot]

This was what I truly imagined when someone told me about "wireless charging" devices of some companies.
Oh the disappointment that followed afterwards when they told about wired dock/pad.

 

[Andres Cantu]

So many different types of waves will be passing through us!

 

[diipii]

Amid rumors that Apple is working on extended range wireless charging capabilities for future iPhones, there has been some speculation that Apple has partnered with Energous to implement the technology. Energous is the company behind WattUp, an emerging wireless charging technology that uses radio frequencies to charge devices from up to 15 feet away.

Though there's no concrete proof of a relationship between Energous and Apple, a new research report from Louis Basenese of Disruptive Tech Research highlights a large pool of circumstantial evidence pointing towards a potential partnership, so it's worth taking a look at Energous's technology, both in that context and as an example of the wireless charging techniques that are currently being pursued by tech companies.

Basenese posits Apple is working with a partner rather than developing an in-house solution due to the small number of patents the company has filed surrounding wireless charging -- just five, with none filed since 2013. As evidence that partner is Energous, he points towards their common manufacturing partners (TSMC and Foxconn), their membership in ANSI working towards standards for wireless power transfer compliance testing, and most notably, the fact that Energous's RF-based wireless charging system is the only long-distance solution nearly ready to launch.

In early 2015, Energous also inked a deal with an unnamed consumer electronics company, positioned as one of the top five companies in the world. Names weren't mentioned, but that's a short list -- Apple, Samsung, HP, Microsoft, and Hitachi. Basenese believes Apple is the likeliest partner by process of elimination.Wireless charging capabilities have been implemented into several smartphones, including those from Apple's direct competitors, but Apple executives have downplayed wireless charging in the past due to its dependence on built-in chips, mats, and close proximity. In a 2012 interview, Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller said it wasn't clear "how much convenience" magnetic induction and resonance wireless charging systems offered because they still need to be plugged into the wall.


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Article Link: Apple Possibly Working With Energous on Extended Range Wireless Charging for Future iPhones

This makes me uneasy about health threats from radiation. I've had cancer once and it's no fun.

 

[quietstormSD]

I actually see this being more practical in the car, especially with bluetooth etc and charging something in the car would only require the technology having to charge something through a small range.

 

[Shlooky]

Hey...WhattUp?

 

[critter13]

I really hope they go with witricity tech. it will be compatible with skyline processors.

 

[tmiw]

I hope Apple doesn't use this as an excuse to reduce battery capacity even further in the name of thinness. The 6/6s is already plenty thin for me and I imagine for others as well.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

The only two things that I am sure in this life:
-Everybody is going to die one day.
-Samsung will copy.

I'm not so certain about the first one.

In fact, I'm pretty certain that more than 50% of people born after 1970 in the US will never die (or at least they'll die so far into the future there's no point worrying about death.) Other developed countries will have similar rates of people who could be considered immortal.

 

[yaxomoxay]

I'm not so certain about the first one.

In fact, I'm pretty certain that more than 50% of people born after 1970 in the US will never die (or at least they'll die so far into the future there's no point worrying about death.) Other developed countries will have similar rates of people who could be considered immortal.

"God is dead, Marx is dead, and I'm not feeling that good..." (Woody Allen)

 

[stevemiller]

That'd be a feature I could get behind.

 

[Mac 128]

It's mentioned in the article that it won't happen for the iPhone 7.

Maybe not the 7, but certainly the 7S.

I actually see this being more practical in the car, especially with bluetooth etc and charging something in the car would only require the technology having to charge something through a small range.

It could also be practical at home, work, or any small room, like an Airport "charging lounge", or even an airplane, bus or train. And not just for phones, but also accessories, particularly BlueTooth headphones -- whether they are powered on or not.

Certainly this would solve a lot of complaints about needing to remember to charge your devices, especially headphones. Essentially they get charged whenever they are near a charging station. Starbucks would be an excellent location for this. In the very near future the only place a device wouldn't get powered is walking down the street, or camping in the woods.