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iPhone 8 May Use Apple's In-House Inductive Wireless Charging Rather Than Technology From Energous

I honestly need someone to explain to me what the actual benefits of inductive "wireless" charging are. I had this feature on my Palm in 2011--it was fine but nothing particularly exciting. How is it any better than just dropping my iPhone on a dock at night?
 
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Inductive charging is the click wheel iPhone of new charging ideas.

It's something dumb they tried, rumor sites are picking up on it, but really they're going to go with proper wireless charging.

I'd be willing to upgrade to a new phone if it introduced proper wireless charging. Otherwise I'll just stick with my 6+ for now.
 
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keysofanxiety said:
I wouldn't be at all surprised if Apple have an in-house solution, or if they've at least been wrestling and testing the idea for years. No way they'll happily wait for somebody else to invent this technology, which everybody else can use, and then decide to use it.

True wireless charging (not charging on a mat) will really be a game changer and Apple recognise this, though in its very nature it would be very difficult and dangerous to pull off properly. It's not something to release in a rush.

My heart tells me Apple will be throwing the kitchen sink at the 2017 iPhone and blow everybody's minds, though my head tells me they'll continue with their 'S' upgrade cycle and continue to test/refine the iPhone 8 features for release next year. I hope my heart is right. :D
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Happens all the time: NFC, fingerprint sensor, barometer, OLED etc.
 
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Anyone else get really excited when they see Apple's patent drawings? Even if the wireless charging is on a mat I'd be happy, that's close enough for me.
 
Am I the only person who sees absolutely no point to wireless charging? As long as you have to stay within a certain proximity of a wireless charging station, how does this free you up in any way? Might as well plug a cable in and get it over with.

Now, if we could wirelessly charge while walking down the street or while on an airplane, that would be something truly useful.

But as long as we are tied down to a radius of 10 feet, I'd rather just use my 9-foot-long lightning cable.

This is even more true with "inductive charging." What benefit does this bring at all? It's just like plugging your phone in, but instead of plugging, you are placing it on a mat? How does this help anyone? Seems to me like people will just have to spend tons more ca$h on Apple's "inductive charging pads."

No thanks.
 
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The last sentence is genius. If I shorted a company's stock I would publicly come to the exact same conclusion. They are probably right though unfortunately. The 'big' company they are talking about isn't that big or isn't putting this into a major product. The technology isn't there yet and wouldn't suit Apple at all. The iPhone is not a feature phone and I can't see this technology being ready. Yes there are some interesting videos etc but let's not forget, you will have to invest in a chunky charger that is supposed to be hidden in speaker or somewhere else in your living room. This technology does not come packaged with your phone. Apple will not include a technology that will require you to buy an expensive non-portable wireless charger. This makes the technology a gimmick. Yes, Apple likes to make money post-sale but not to support a feature that isn't otherwise usable.
 
The Energous rumors never made sense to me, not least because Energous was being a little too public about it. RF charging is not the answer here for all the reasons outlined-- it's simply too inefficient and delivers more power to not-the-target than it does to the target.
 
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"Copperfield Research is made up of an anonymous group of researchers that have shorted Watt's stock and may not be entirely impartial,"

I don't know what Apple will do, but if these researchers have a direct financial gain in that the Watt stock plummets, I would take what they say with a grain of salt. After all, if they are right the stock should plummet within 6-9 months anyway, when the iPhone 8 is revealed.
 
Amazing that invester notes now qualify as credible rumors. And all based on looking through patent applications? I guess they needed a reason to short someone's stock?
 
swingandamiss said:
Anyone else get really excited when they see Apple's patent drawings? Even if the wireless charging is on a mat I'd be happy, that's close enough for me.
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I'd give a polite (but disappointed) "no thank you" to a charging mat.
How would that be easier or more convenient than the omnipresent/bidirectional lightning cable?? Sounds like an added expense & waste of space for something that, even if it did come to pass, would CLEARLY be merely a stepping stone towards a much better and more elegant solution.
Soooo... at $100/pop- your put them in the three or four rooms in your house that you currently have lightning cables for your fam's myriad devices, then next-gen gets a TRUE wireless charging solution & you start all over again?
I don't buy it!
Wireless charging pads are a garbage "solution" for charging. If Apple really was going that route, they could have like four years ago. If they waited this long- it's to do something better!!!!
 
OldSchoolMacGuy said:
Because it's not a great standard and leaves a LOT to be desired. Operating outside of it means Apple can make far larger advances far faster.
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Like their foray into screen tech?:rolleyes: Apple seems to be getting away from proprietary "only works with Apple". Ubiquity is typically less expensive and benefits from research and improvements from multiple participants.

OldSchoolMacGuy said:
Going with Qi could mean that the charging device must be in contact with the charger, rather than simply in the vicinity.
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What in the article makes you think Apple isn't talking about contact charging as well? This sounds more like contact charging than distance charging. At least to me it does. Doesn't this sound more like contact to you?
MacRumors said:
Patents point towards multiple objects that could provide power, such as a table top with a charging coil built in, a desktop charging station, or even a desktop or notebook computer, which could be used to provide power to an iPhone or iPad.
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All of this has to be taken with a lot of grains of salt, considering the source of the info and their obvious motivation for wanting this to be true.
 
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Iconoclysm said:
OLED has not happened, at all. In the case of NFC and the fingerprint sensor, nobody was getting it right...until Apple. That's what "happens all the time".
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Umm....NFC is completely closed off on Apple. It's apple pay only. No NFC whatsoever!
 
Tycho24 said:
I'd give a polite (but disappointed) "no thank you" to a charging mat.
How would that be easier or more convenient than the omnipresent/bidirectional lightning cable?? Sounds like an added expense & waste of space for something that, even if it did come to pass, would CLEARLY be merely a stepping stone towards a much better and more elegant solution.
Soooo... at $100/pop- your put them in the three or four rooms in your house that you currently have lightning cables for your fam's myriad devices, then next-gen gets a TRUE wireless charging solution & you start all over again?
I don't buy it!
Wireless charging pads are a garbage "solution" for charging. If Apple really was going that route, they could have like four years ago. If they waited this long- it's to do something better!!!!
Click to expand...

They also made the comments themselves about that being virtually no better than plugging in. They'd have an awful lot of backpedaling to do if this was their solution.
 
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69Mustang said:
All of this has to be taken with a lot of grains of salt, considering the source of the info and their obvious motivation for wanting this to be true.
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Absolutely. I encourage you guys to read the full research note too, there's a lot more detail in there that I couldn't fully add because of length. Some good points, but it's entirely too early to tell what solution Apple is going to go with. I'm guessing we're going to be hearing a lot more on this subject over the next couple months.
 
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Delgibbons said:
Umm....NFC is completely closed off on Apple. It's apple pay only. No NFC whatsoever!
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How does that change what I said? NFC's primary purpose is for payments anyway, because of its short range and compatibility with already existing POS terminals. BTLE makes more sense for virtually everything else.

[doublepost=1485205267][/doublepost]
Yojimbo007 said:
Because its Apple.
Lets have usb-c first.
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Yes.
 
rrrahu1 said:
This is even more true with "inductive charging." What benefit does this bring at all? It's just like plugging your phone in, but instead of plugging, you are placing it on a mat? How does this help anyone? Seems to me like people will just have to spend tons more ca$h on Apple's "inductive charging pads."
Click to expand...

Let's see ...

You don't need random wires dangling around
You don't need to fiddle around with those wires
You don't need to carry wires or wired chargers with you for emergencies, you can just carry a portable battery that has built-in Qi
You can go use standarized Qi charging anywhere that has it
You can sit/stand at a table in an airport with built-in Qi and not have to fight over the few wall chargers or sit on the floor in a web of wires.
Same with bars and restaurants.
Qi chargers are cheap and come in a a massive variety of styles to be as unobtrusive or as flashy as you like
You don't have to use it. If you want to fiddle around with wires go ahead. If you want to buy a big dock to have sitting on your desk go ahead.

But that's Qi. Apple branded inductive charging will cost more. But based on the fanbase these days people would buy a dusting cloth for $100 if it had an Apple logo.

You could argue why use streaming at home? Just buy the DVD. It does the same thing in the end.
 
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Delgibbons said:
Airpods still use plain ol Bluetooth for audio and not even aptx quality but plain old a2dp.

They just pretend it's different in the way it pairs using the w1 thing.

I've personally never had any trouble with Bluetooth 4 pairing as soon as I turn my headphones on with my galaxy s7
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i've personally had so many issues with standard bluetooth 4 pairing. I'd be listening to my bluetooth earbuds from my car. then as i walk home, my windows laptop takes over the bluetooth audio. i would have to manually disconnect my bluetooth from windows and manually connect to my phone again. happens all of the freaking time.
 
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farewelwilliams said:
i've personally had so many issues with standard bluetooth 4 pairing. I'd be listening to my bluetooth earbuds from my car. then as i walk home, my windows laptop takes over the bluetooth audio. i would have to manually disconnect my bluetooth from windows and manually connect to my phone again. happens all of the freaking time.
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Could depend on the headphones. Or maybe I've just been lucky ;)
 
Delgibbons said:
Well true NFC allows you to read actual NFC tags etc...using it for the full range of NFC related applications.

Which you can't on an apple device ;;-) hardly "getting it right"
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Such as what? Exactly how was that going to make NFC payments catch on - which is the real reason for all of this. Anything else can be done with BTLE.

One could argue that "getting it right" involved focusing on its real purpose in a phone.
 
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