What patent?!? Magnetically attached cable? Sorry mate but there has been magnetically attached cables before MagSafe. However, this is not Apple approved product so if one ends up frying iPhones then there is no blaming Apple about it. Still, Apple can't do anything to stop this product being manufactured.
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'Znaps' Adds MagSafe-Style Connectivity to Your Lightning Cables
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What patent?!? Magnetically attached cable? Sorry mate but there has been magnetically attached cables before MagSafe. However, this is not Apple approved product so if one ends up frying iPhones then there is no blaming Apple about it. Still, Apple can't do anything to stop this product being manufactured.
That's not how licensing fees work. If you are trying to make money off a plug that is both size and pin-compatible with their port, then a licensing fee applies.
Because the Znaps product has a male and a female part, each of which are sold separately, they are both subject to the licensing fees. So, for a $9 product, Znaps will be on the hook for $8 of fees to Apple.
This product will never make it off the drawing board.
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In this case, you can. The novel component of the patent is precisely what the abstract summarizes, and what the Znaps product replicates. I think the Znaps people think they can get around the patent because they don't think their product is a cable, but the patent isn't about cables. It's about a plug that conducts electricity and uses magnets to maintain contact, for electronic devices.
Znaps calls it an adapter, but it's not actually adapting anything. It's merely bridging, like a cable, and doing so while using the novelty defined in Apple's patent.
My biggest complaint about the new lightning connector is its so much more difficult to plug in than the 30 pin connector.
I get in my car and start driving and then have to fiddle and fiddle to get it lined up and plugged in.
Plugging in the lightning connector when it's dark is also frustrating. There's no line up and push like the 30 pin.
Fortunately the mfi cables are getting cheaper so cost is no longer a factor.
I'm sure apple tried something link this but it probably wasn't reliable for data transfer rate.
No the next apple connector will probably be NO connector. All induction with a sealed waterproof unit.
I get in my car and start driving and then have to fiddle and fiddle to get it lined up and plugged in.
Plugging in the lightning connector when it's dark is also frustrating. There's no line up and push like the 30 pin.
Fortunately the mfi cables are getting cheaper so cost is no longer a factor.
I'm sure apple tried something link this but it probably wasn't reliable for data transfer rate.
No the next apple connector will probably be NO connector. All induction with a sealed waterproof unit.
Oops. That was an accidental quote. Removed.
In any case, it's not the magnet or the cable that matter. It's combined with the proprietary connector (including the chip that does the handshake) that is the problem.
My deep fryer is not infringing on Apple's intellectual property.
The USB version is safe IMO. Lightning version not so much.
In any case, it's not the magnet or the cable that matter. It's combined with the proprietary connector (including the chip that does the handshake) that is the problem.
My deep fryer is not infringing on Apple's intellectual property.
The USB version is safe IMO. Lightning version not so much.
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Doesn't Microsoft use a magnetic connector on the surface? How did they get around the patend, did they license it from apple?
No. The magnet matters very much. In fact it is inseparable from the patent. That's the novelty of the patent. That's why no other PC manufacturers or electronic devices for that matter use magnets on the power port.
If your deep fryer uses magnets on its power port it actually could be an infringement of Apple's patent, as your deep fryer likely has enough electronic components to be classified as an electronic device.
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We'll just have to agree to disagree then. Ultimately court will decide on this matter if Apple wants to make a play. They can come after millions of deep fryers too. But they know better.
I'll see your MagSafe patent 7311526 Filed September 2005, granted in December 2007 and raise you patent 6478614 granted to De'Longhi, November 2002:
...comprises an electrical cable exhibiting a connection plug to the electric network at one end, and a magnetised member electrically associable--through a magnetic force--to an outlet connected to the kitchen appliance at the opposed end...
Again, it's not just about magnetic power cables. If it is, here is your prior art.
Is that why my Sony Z3 has a magnet between the two power connections to hold the charging cable in place?
Don't forget the original thread from last week https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/znaps.1901027/ talking about this same project.
I sure hope it doesn't get axed, cause I want this!
I sure hope it doesn't get axed, cause I want this!
I wouldn't mind it, but I have so many lightning cables now replacing them all with these now would cost some serious cash. I'd just end up taking the bits out. Plus they don't come in 10' lengths, and I love those Monoprice cables.
At the end of the day there is a possibility they could acquire a license for lightning eventually but Apple have never licensed MagSafe to anyone and I don't see that changing ever.
You and everyone else is confused about the surface. First two surface and surface pro / pro's used magnet charging. I should know as I had a pro. Then with the surface pro 3 they kept the magnet and made it a flat/knife like charger. So yes someone other then Apple has used magnets.
I backed this project because as long as the Lightning end is mfi (which it has to be to work with iOS 8/9) it'll be successful. I'm sure the company also did its research and it sounds like they did cause they got a lawyer to look at apples patent and in their faq they explain it.
There's plenty of electronics that's done the same too. Apple's patent for their Magsafe involves the idea of utilizing an additional processing chip that also "communicates" with the device the plug is connected to, which is separate from the Surface's (and deep fryer, water boiler, etc.) connectors, which is why Microsoft and the others have been fine so far.
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I want this badly to come to fruition, if only for connecting my phone to the car in the glovebox.
If they managed to wriggle past Apple's lawyer and all that, I would totally get one in the future, especially if they make a USB C charger for the Macbook.