Nikkei Dubiously Says AirPods Charging Case 'Will Soon Be Able' to Wirelessly Charge an iPhone

[MacRumors]

An upcoming version of the AirPods charging case will be able to wirelessly charge a compatible iPhone, according to Nikkei Asian Review, although proceed with skepticism, as there's a good chance the report is off the mark.

The first paragraph from Cheng Ting-Fang and Lauly Li, in a report titled "Apple to unveil iPhone wireless charging with AirPods":

Users of iPhones will soon be able to wirelessly charge their handsets using the charging case for Apple's popular AirPods wireless earphones, according to an industry source familiar with the plan.

The report claims the charging case could be available as soon as the end of this year, although the timeframe is subject to change.

The report adds:

The development would add to Apple's much-anticipated AirPower wireless charging mat, unveiled last year and due out soon, bringing chief designer Jony Ive's call in 2016 for a "truly wireless future" a step closer. Apple has previously said it is working on a wireless charging case for AirPods that could also be topped up with the AirPower pad, though it gave no further details.

It's not entirely clear if the report is referring to the same AirPods charging case that Apple previewed alongside the iPhone X last year. Apple said that optional accessory will be released in 2018 alongside its AirPower charging mat.

All in all, it's a rather strange report that inspires a lot of questions. Would a user hold or lay their iPhone against the AirPods charging case? The case's current floss-container-like design means that the iPhone would need to be precisely balanced on top of it, if not held together in your hands.

In addition, the AirPods case is and will likely remain too small to adequately charge the latest iPhones. The battery in the current case has a capacity of 398 mAh, roughly 14.6 percent of the iPhone X's battery capacity of 2,716 mAh, limiting its usefulness to emergency or must-have situations.

Is the report backwards? Is it possible some iPhones will be able to wirelessly transfer power to the AirPods charging case on the go? Or, more likely, is the report simply mistranslating the fact that the latest iPhones and the AirPods charging case will be compatible with the AirPower charging mat?

At this point, all we know for certain is that Apple will release both its AirPower charging mat and optional AirPods charging case later this year. According to the reliable Mark Gurman, Apple is aiming to release the AirPower by September, so there's a good chance it'll launch alongside the next iPhones.

Article Link: Nikkei Dubiously Says AirPods Charging Case 'Will Soon Be Able' to Wirelessly Charge an iPhone

 

[macsrcool1234]

I imagine the battery is too small to make a huge difference. Also, what if users don't want to charge their phone - will just having them touch cause it to happen?

Calling this report bs - it just doesn't make much sense.

 

[zilba25]

It would make more sense to me to charge the AirPods with my iPhone than the other way around.

 

[kimmen]

I'm certain something got lost in translation here...
I'm sure they mean that the charging mat delivered with the airPod-case will also be able to charge an iPhone.

 

[justperry]

Think it's actually a good idea, lets say you are on the road, you have your iPhone and your Airpods with you, you are running on empty but need to make an important call or whatever, if the battery in the case is big enough it could easily charge the iPhone for another hour or more.

 

[iTundra]

Induction charging is bi-directional so theoretically it could go either way; AirPods charge iPhone or iPhone charge AirPods. Just tell them which one is doing what.

If your iPhone dies and you need to make a call you can likely get at least enough charge from the AirPods to make a couple of calls or send/receive some texts or run GPS for a few seconds.

 

[Winter Charm]

This is extremely dubious. The AirPods case battery is less than 200mAh... the smallest iPhone battery (in the SE) is 1624 mAh. Induction charging also carries with it a significant inefficiency, so you might only see *half* that charge on the phone (meaning ~ 100mAh, or less than 10% battery)

In no world would it make sense to have the AirPod case charge an iPhone. Dumb rumor. Either they got it backwards, or this is pure bs.

 

[MacsRgr8]

Or it will be a new "mat", i.e. extra reason to buy AirPods if you have an iPhone 8/X (and Watch 3)

 

[Winter Charm]

Induction charging is bi-directional so theoretically it could go either way; AirPods charge iPhone or iPhone charge AirPods. Just tell them which one is doing what.

If your iPhone dies and you need to make a call you can likely get at least enough charge from the AirPods to make a couple of calls or send/receive some texts or run GPS for a few seconds.

This is such an edge case that it would hardly matter.

 

[Ralfi]

This is the type of tech convergence that I like.

Often I've thought how handy it'd be if the lid of my iPad case could somehow wirelessly charge devices.

Whether it's true or not, it's smart thinking imo, & will help promote wireless charging.

 

[Mactagonist]

Sounds like a bad translation.

 

[SuprUsrStan]

I'm certain something got lost in translation here...
I'm sure they mean that the charging mat delivered with the airPod-case will also be able to charge an iPhone.

It's got to be something like that. I can't imagine the air pods charging case will be able to substantially charge the iPhone X battery in any way.

 

[Erasmus]

Is nobody else reading this that you might be able to charge your iPhone via induction while your AirPods charge via mains power?

Seems practical to me, or vice versa, as long as one of the two devices is getting power directly.

 

[justperry]

This is extremely dubious. The AirPods case battery is less than 200mAh... the smallest iPhone battery (in the SE) is 1624 mAh. Induction charging also carries with it a significant inefficiency, so you might only see *half* that charge on the phone (meaning ~ 100mAh, or less than 10% battery)

In no world would it make sense to have the AirPod case charge an iPhone. Dumb rumor. Either they got it backwards, or this is pure bs.

Bold: Built in a higher capacity battery maybe....

 

[danielchow]

Perhaps it was lost in translation as it traveled down the rumour lanes?

 

[Craiger]

Is nobody else reading this that you might be able to charge your iPhone via induction while your AirPods charge via mains power?

Seems practical to me, or vice versa, as long as one of the two devices is getting power directly.

Oh nice thinking!

 

[69Mustang]

Bold: Built in a higher capacity battery maybe....

The increase in case size to hold a battery sufficient enough to not only charge an iPhone, but wirelessly charge an iPhone... that is a big, heavy case that would completely negate the compact portability of the AirPods.

Imo, that report is just the result of a bad Google Translate.

 

[HiVolt]

LOL, "as soon as the end of this year" isn't soon at all. What a bunch of hogwash.

 

[KJL3000]

Charging the iPhone with the AirPod case...? What?

 

[69Mustang]

Is nobody else reading this that you might be able to charge your iPhone via induction while your AirPods charge via mains power?

Seems practical to me, or vice versa, as long as one of the two devices is getting power directly.

Practical how? Wireless charging is already less efficient. It would make little sense to charge your phone through the AirPod case when, in your scenario, you have a charging cable right there hypothetically charging the AirPod case. That makes no sense at all. Reading the original article it seems pretty obvious they've confused info about the charging mat with info about the charging case.

Also, you can't start introducing your own theory into an already shaky rumor. There's nothing that says anything about the iPhone being able to charge the AirPod case. So no vice versa.

 

[shadowmatt]

How long to produce a wireless charging mat? Simple Chinese no label manufactures worked it out years ago.

 

[slimtastic]

Either someone is trolling, or this got lost in translation. I believe they probably meant "soon, you will be able to charge your AirPods and iPhone from a wireless charging mat" lol. Meaning they might launch soon.

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

I doesn’t matter what the truth is, a certain portion of the readers here will take anything—untrue or not, to feed their negative bent.

 

[Baymowe335]

Nikkei is consistently wrong about supply chain, iPhone demand and pretty much everything I've read from them in Apple, so question accordingly.

 

[e-coli]

I'm certain something got lost in translation here...
I'm sure they mean that the charging mat delivered with the airPod-case will also be able to charge an iPhone.

You’d get a wireless charging mat with air pods?