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ipponrg

macrumors 68020
Oct 15, 2008
2,309
2,087
They had to begin offering Qi charging, because the market was already shifting that direction, and there were / are benefits to using Qi charging that make sense for Apple to be part of.

Regarding Qi, the market was already there. Apple historically adds support for these features way later which is both good and bad. It feels they only adopted it because they were behind too far (as usual)
 

D.T.

macrumors G4
Sep 15, 2011
11,050
12,460
Vilano Beach, FL
Good point. The whole frame of the IP12 Pro is steel so presumably any part of it could be attracted to external magnets? Perhaps it will have to have internal magnets to locate the external charger properly?


The chassis is aluminum, so it's non-ferrous (aka, "non-magnetic"), so they're likely implementing internal magnetics of some sort. Electromagnets[?] So they could switch on/off? Activated by the presence of a charger?

Magic? Magnets, how do they work?

I kind of dig on this, attaching/removing a charging cable would be a touch easier, reduce wear on the port (we've had a few iPhone where the port can a little janky, even caused some electrical cross talk that sort of "fried" some cables), and I'd imagine, it's a design bridge between ports and no ports that are planned for some very near term iPhone design.
 

jmgregory1

macrumors 68030
My good man, can someone please answer the question: why is it a better solution and what problem does it solve compared to sticking a cable in a port, without writing a side-essay about Apple?
As I mentioned, Apple did not create Qi wireless charging. That ship sailed before Apple added it to the iPhone and Watch. You can complain about the merits of Qi charging vs plugging in a device, but to suggest that Apple is at fault for applying a technology already in the market, or adapting it to be better / different, is ridiculous.

Personally, I would prefer that Apple implement a charging and data transfer system on the iPhone that uses something more akin to their Smart Connector. This way you could minimize the charging connector to something more like the old MagSafe connector. But again, there is an existing market that continues to grow for Qi charging, so they have to continue down this path, at least until they develop something far superior.
 

otternonsense

Suspended
Jul 25, 2016
2,213
6,303
Berlin
As I mentioned, Apple did not create Qi wireless charging. That ship sailed before Apple added it to the iPhone and Watch. You can complain about the merits of Qi charging vs plugging in a device, but to suggest that Apple is at fault for applying a technology already in the market, or adapting it to be better / different, is ridiculous.

Personally, I would prefer that Apple implement a charging and data transfer system on the iPhone that uses something more akin to their Smart Connector. This way you could minimize the charging connector to something more like the old MagSafe connector. But again, there is an existing market that continues to grow for Qi charging, so they have to continue down this path, at least until they develop something far superior.

Well thanks for taking the time, but it still doesn't answer the question why is it any better for the end user. The growing Qi market is a side business, and indeed, I would like to see corroborating growth stats that would evidence such a drastic departure in the future. From where I see it Qi is growing but still not that popular.
 

oneMadRssn

macrumors 603
Sep 8, 2011
5,980
14,003
How is this a “wireless” charger? If this is wireless, then so was MagSafe on MacBooks.
I agree with you this charter is dumb, but the difference between this and MagSafe is MagSafe still had direct copper-to-copper contact between charger and device, whereas this has no direct electrical contact between charger and device.
 

oneMadRssn

macrumors 603
Sep 8, 2011
5,980
14,003
Remember how palm did this in 2010

Yes, and it was awesome. The Palm Pre wireless charger was, and is still is, the best wireless charger from an ergonomics perspective.

1602596010976.png
 

Davisgtr

macrumors newbie
Sep 8, 2016
10
2
seems like just a bigger apple watch charger, which is fine with me, could get some cool floating chargers just like the apple.
 

swm

macrumors 6502a
May 29, 2013
517
848
if this can hold the phone securely in the car just by the magnets, i am sold
 
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Tony Cilli Jr

macrumors newbie
Oct 13, 2020
1
1
One of the cons of using Wireless CarPlay is it uses WiFi in the phone, not bluetooth. When you do Wireless CarPlay, you can't use the hotspot on your phone for others in the car to connect to. It's a pretty specific use case, but it's still a decent con that I'd hope would be resolved by an upgraded radio in the phone to handle the multi-connection scenario before they went portless.
 
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compwiz1202

macrumors 604
May 20, 2010
7,389
5,739
Right, but how many late model cars are on the road with only wired CarPlay? I’m guessing Apple doesn’t want to piss off their customers or forgo those customers upgrading to their newest phones because their car won’t work with it.
And wireless is only on expensive car models.
[automerge]1602601259[/automerge]
One of the cons of using Wireless CarPlay is it uses WiFi in the phone, not bluetooth. When you do Wireless CarPlay, you can't use the hotspot on your phone for others in the car to connect to. It's a pretty specific use case, but it's still a decent con that I'd hope would be resolved by an upgraded radio in the phone to handle the multi-connection scenario before they went portless.
Yea it's a scam to get you to pay for the car Wi-Fi
 
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Painter2002

macrumors 65816
May 9, 2017
1,197
943
Austin, TX
uhhh wireless CarPlay?
Umm, not all of us have BMWs with with wireless CarPlay... so to upgrade my phone and still use CarPlay wired means I have to upgrade to a new car too?

I don’t see Apple removing the port altogether. There is just no logic in it and would alienate a good portion of their fans who won’t be able to afford a charging pad or new car to use the features they already were used to.

But then again Apple has done crazier things...
 
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Coconut Bean

macrumors 6502
Jul 21, 2011
400
380
Most wireless chargers have wires though Lol. I don’t see what’s so weird about this.

This allows for the port to be used for other things and this way it gets less abuse.

I think the obvious problem being is that it will need the perfect alignment in order to do fast charging etc. I can almost certainly guarantee that it won't work well with other non-Apple chargers.

Also seems inconvenient. Do you have it on top of the phone or do you have the phone on top of the charger. Every time I pick up the phone I have to remove the charger by hand?
 

Iconoclysm

macrumors 68040
May 13, 2010
3,141
2,569
Washington, DC
And then, when you go to get your phone, you have this magnetic thing still clinging to it? Hmmm... seems like a step backward than a simple one-handed lift-and-go.
I think this device missed the point, it will work well with a large pad where it will align itself though.
 

Sinequanon83

macrumors member
Oct 27, 2011
91
168
Well thanks for taking the time, but it still doesn't answer the question why is it any better for the end user. The growing Qi market is a side business, and indeed, I would like to see corroborating growth stats that would evidence such a drastic departure in the future. From where I see it Qi is growing but still not that popular.
Likewise you never answered why this wouldn’t be better in an Apple Watch implementation, because you know what the answer is.
 

AdpSydney

macrumors newbie
Nov 9, 2018
7
9
True... but you can also do that with the existing cable. I use my phone plugged in quite often. Magic! :p

I see your point though.

One downside to magnets is when you lift your phone off the charging pad. Will the pad stick to it? That's the opposite of what I want from a charging pad. I want the pad to stay on the table when I grab my phone. That's the point of these types of chargers.

The Apple Pad better be heavy enough to stay on the table when you lift the phone. I don't want to be fighting with my charging pad every time I grab my phone.
Yes but as someone who uses a lightning to hdmi adapter for my projector, I am forever comforting my equipment around so I can have the phone charging on a pad and still use the lightning port. This will be much better.
 
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