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Apple Still Working on AirPower-Like Charger, Also Long-Range Wireless Charging and Reverse Charging
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Reverse charging hardware has been in the iphone since the X. But its deactivated in the software.
There really is no reason it is off.
True wireless charging is a wasteful concept because the range is shorter than a charging wire.
There really is no reason it is off.
True wireless charging is a wasteful concept because the range is shorter than a charging wire.
The biggest problem is safety given the amount of ambient power you’d need. Charge your phone and cook your cat.
Inverse cube law for quasi-static magnetic fields, inverse square for propogating RF waves. Either way, you're seeing a ton of power in the air close to the source in order to have a small amount of power at the device.
While I wouldn't want to keep checking on my own, I think having that app would definitely make it much easier to manage. I think I'll have to look into it as I've been very pleased (telephoto aside) with the 13 Max ?
Apple is still working on a future wireless charger that would function similarly to the now-abandoned AirPower, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
In the latest edition of the journalist's Power On newsletter, Gurman reiterates earlier reports that Apple still intends to create a wireless charging accessory that would charge multiple devices like an iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods all at once.
Apple first announced the AirPower in September 2017 alongside the iPhone 8 and iPhone X. At the time, Apple said the charging product would launch sometime in 2018, but that didn't happen. Following months of rumors about development issues, Apple canceled the project in March 2019.
Since then, Apple has rolled out MagSafe charging for its iPhones, including the MagSafe Duo accessory, which can wirelessly charge an Apple Watch and iPhone in tandem, although the Duo is just two separate wireless chargers joined together. If Gurman is correct, Apple still plans to release a charging device that can charge up all three products at the same time.
Continuing the theme, Gurman says he believes Apple is still investigating charging solutions that don't rely on contact-based inductive charging technology. Specifically, he mentions Apple is working on "short and long distance wireless charging devices" and that the company "imagines" a future where all of its major devices can charge each other. "Imagine an iPad charging an iPhone and then that iPhone charging AirPods or an Apple Watch," adds Gurman.
We've long heard rumors of so-called reverse wireless charging capabilities for recent iPhone series. The closest it has come is with its MagSafe battery pack, which can receive power from an iPhone when the latter device is plugged in and charging.
Given the MagSafe Battery Pack's reverse wireless charging feature, it seems technically possible that an iPhone 12 or iPhone 13 could deliver power to AirPods or AirPods Pro, but Apple has not yet implemented this feature.
Article Link: Apple Still Working on AirPower-Like Charger, Also Long-Range Wireless Charging and Reverse Charging
Until you can buy it, it’s vaporware. Yes, it would be convenient, IF it was for sale.
Even if prototypes are being tested you still can’t buy or use one yet. And you don’t know what the specifics of the product will end up being or how much it would cost.
Considering most Apple consumer products run on batteries it’s not surprising that research into chargers is happening. Since phones and watches and AirPods/headphones are all closely tied together when used it would be more surprising if NO research and development was being conducted about common charging.
Now that MagSafe is a thing I just don't see why Apple needs to go back to this.
Yes. My wife just got an Apple Watch SE and the charging cube needs to be USB C not USB A or B for the included charger to plug into. Hi power power supplies to quickly charge iPhones also have USB C ports instead of either regular USB or Lightning.
What exactly was the stated reason for not adopting USB C years ago and developing a proprietary connection instead? Edit: not asking for the real reason, which was to lock people into proprietary Apple hardware, what excuse did they give for doing so?
If it was faster AND other companies could use (and did) use it then I wouldn’t care that much. But it’s now turned into a headache for Apple users as the EU wants standard cabling.
I hope that’s sarcasm I sense, because this company has already taken up too many column inches on MR.
Please, can we stop treating this as anything but a scam to peddle snake oil and cold fusion in order to funnel millions in investment dollars to Rizzone?
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How silly is all this wireless charging! Just put USB-C on every device, we're lucky enough to have a port that can deliver data, video and charge, and it's very small, could even fit in an Apple Watch. Yeah, if you want to continue with this wireless charging gimmick fair enough but I much rather have USB-C in every device.
Terrible rumour. AirPower is dead.
If somehow it isn’t then you’d have to be an absolute moron to drop money on it.
Apple can’t even support the Apple Watch Series 7 fast charging on the MagSafe Duo it’s currently selling for $100+.
Anyone who spent money on an AirPower could achieve the same efficiency by setting fire to dollar bills and using the flame to boil water.
If somehow it isn’t then you’d have to be an absolute moron to drop money on it.
Apple can’t even support the Apple Watch Series 7 fast charging on the MagSafe Duo it’s currently selling for $100+.
Anyone who spent money on an AirPower could achieve the same efficiency by setting fire to dollar bills and using the flame to boil water.
Hence why it isn't released yet, they are trying to push the industry forward, not just join it. That's my take.
In my home and work lives, I'm constantly up and down, taking my phone with me everywhere. If I had to plug in and unplug it every time I sat down, that would be frustrating. Instead, I have wireless chargers throughout my home and business and just set the phone down for a moment.
Remember, not everyone's situation is the same as yours.
Apple introduced Lightning in 2012, as a replacement for the 30pin connector they had been using as the alternative to micro and mini-USB ports most mobile devices used at the time (which were and are complete crap). USB-C didn’t really show up until 2017, and that wasn’t widespread at that point. This idea that Apple is keeping Lightning around is just because of the MFI program profits is short-sighted at best.
It was difficult enough for Apple to make the shift from 30pin to Lightning given the millions of devices that were on the market that utilized 30pin connectors at the time, and that was after just 5 years of iPhones being on the market. Not sure if you remember, but there were tons of people complaining about needing to buy all new cables and speakers and such at the time. I still have a Bose speaker that uses 30pin, although I did chip it to make it Bluetooth capable once our 30pin iPhones all died.
And the number of iPhones grew exponentially over the past decade, so no one should be surprised that they haven’t made the shift to USB-C yet.
I personally would love for them to make iPhones USB-C, given I’ve been working with an iPad Pro for the past 3 years, so I’m already carrying around a 20+ watt USB-C charger and cable. That being said, I do currently have an old Apple Lightning iPhone desk stand on my desk, that I still use occasionally. I’ve kept it mainly because it looks good and holds my iPhone up so it faces me at a similar angle to what my iPad Pro screen is at, which is way better than having it lay flat on my desk, imho.
I keep a few of these around and they do the job fine:
I also have a few that convert to micro-B and a few to A. Throw a couple in my desk, a couple in my travel bag, and then carry USB-C cables and wall adapters. Does what I need to in most cases without needing a bunch of special cables and specialized power supplies. It's enough to get power and data from wherever to wherever.
Apple released the MacBook with usb-c in 2015, people complained about the move to 30 pin too, it’s gana happen no matter what. Just seems interesting that they said it was the future 6 years ago and they were in a rush to make all their computers type c but they are in no rush to move their phones. They didn’t really hesitate to upgrade the iPads because how many lightning accessories did you see for it? Just seems like it’s purely due to economics.
There is a difference with MacBooks using USB-C, given the higher power levels required and the potential for large file size transfers, where USB-A just wouldn’t cut it. And USB-C allowed Apple to ditch all the other fast port options that used to be options, so it was indeed the future (until this year with the new M1 MBP’s).
Today, since they’re packaging new iPhones with USB-C to Lightning cables, there isn’t as much need to make the shift, but if I had to guess, it’s going to be the latest improvements to iPhone photo and video taking that forces the switch, potentially initially to just iPhone Pro models. They need a faster transfer method for the often huge file sizes you get with RAW photos and videos, which is something that just hasn’t been an issue in the recent past.
Your point about the lack of iPad accessories making it easier to switch to USB-C doesn’t have to be about Apple being ok with giving up smaller amounts of profit from MFI related to iPad accessories makers, but rather that it impacts consumers of iPads Pro (initially) less, so they’d get less negative pushback on it.
The other thing that limits negative pushback in not changing iPhones from Lightning to USB-C has been MagSafe charging. For people who don’t need to transfer huge files from their iPhone to a computer, MagSafe allows for wire-free charging, thereby making the Lightning port a non-issue. That and the fact that iPhones used to need to be paired with a Mac of some sort, going through iTunes (which I had to think about the name for a second since it’s now just become Music), but now there is very little reason to connect your iPhone to a computer. I haven’t plugged my iPhone into my rMBP or iMac in years, and I’m sure I’m not alone.
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