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Nikkei Dubiously Says AirPods Charging Case 'Will Soon Be Able' to Wirelessly Charge an iPhone
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What if charging “handsets” refers to the Apple Watch? I mean literally it sets on your hand!
I recently bought a little Apple Watch battery+charger that’s the size of my AirPods case and holds roughly double the capacity, and can charge my Apple Watch twice. It even supports pass through charging so I can use it as a dock overnight (although I wear my Apple Watch to sleep).
It was only $35 so I won’t be sad if Apple updated the AirPods case to increase capacity and also function as a portable Apple Watch charger. I mean if Apple wants people to leave their phone at home and use only Apple Watch and AirPods then it would be convenient to have a case that can top up both while on the go. Then there’s just one small item in your pocket, one on your wrist, and two in your ears (optionally)!
I recently bought a little Apple Watch battery+charger that’s the size of my AirPods case and holds roughly double the capacity, and can charge my Apple Watch twice. It even supports pass through charging so I can use it as a dock overnight (although I wear my Apple Watch to sleep).
It was only $35 so I won’t be sad if Apple updated the AirPods case to increase capacity and also function as a portable Apple Watch charger. I mean if Apple wants people to leave their phone at home and use only Apple Watch and AirPods then it would be convenient to have a case that can top up both while on the go. Then there’s just one small item in your pocket, one on your wrist, and two in your ears (optionally)!
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I want a charging mat for my iPhone X, Air Pods, iPad 12.9, Macbook Pro, Macbook, Macbook Air, Beats Studio, and my apple watch. It should be as easy as just laying down all these devices on a pad before I go to bed and I wake up and have everything fully charged.
I pictured a charging mat the size of a twin mattress
pretty crazy we are not at that point yet. Also a little ridiculous the powermat is still not available.
It would make sense, so you could go out without the case and have the ability to charge the AirPods
On a device like the iPhone plus with a big battery it shouldn't be a problem to squeeze some power from the phone to charge the earphones.
One USB charger and cable, versus TWO USB chargers and cables. i.e. simpler for the user.
I can introduce proposed extensions to how something might work if I wish. Otherwise, as everyone here has already convinced themselves this rumour must be a mis-translation, the vice-versa scenario is slightly more likely to be true. Although obviously still unlikely.
With the wireless-charging version, i guess you would get one yes.
In any case, they try to keep the weight of the case as low as possible, so the battery in it would never be practical as a charging source.
When can we stop calling it wireless charging and start calling it induction charging? Are we going to have to actually wait for wireless charging to be a reality before people call it what it is?
The charging field extends the area containing the airpods. Whatever field is out there must still be strong enough to charge the phone. It's free charging for your phone though the field may not be very strong unless you position your airpod case to the back of your phone.
When the airpods are not in it, this is where things get iffy. It's a matter of the losses being worth what is harnessed, maybe the engineering team solved this and they get good power transfer. I'm sure the feature will be optional, but it could come in handy to give your phone a bump in emergencies.
When the airpods are not in it, this is where things get iffy. It's a matter of the losses being worth what is harnessed, maybe the engineering team solved this and they get good power transfer. I'm sure the feature will be optional, but it could come in handy to give your phone a bump in emergencies.
[doublepost=1530020679][/doublepost]Mr. Cook should focus on discussing the decline in quality of Apple software and hardware. How about discussing Macbook/pro keyboard design flaws and plans to correct them. How about buggy iOS11? So much for him to talk about for which he is paid rather than pontificating about social issues.
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":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: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 Says AirPods Charging Case 'Will Soon Be Able' to Wirelessly Charge an iPhone
This makes perfect sense to me, and no need for any "lost-in-translation" explanations.
If Airpower really is bi-directional, as some are claiming, and presumably the new AirPods case will still have a lightning adapter right?
So , if I want to charge my phone I just plug in my AirPods case, and place my iPhone X on top of it.
They both charge up, only one lightning connecter needed etc..
I just put my phone on top of my current AirPod case and it sits on top quite happily, If the new one was a little less rounded and shiny perhaps, or had some little dimples on one side, it would be perfect.
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Oh, I don't that is correct, but perhaps someone with a better understanding of Physics can confirm.
As I understood it the field that extends the area containing the AirPods isn't causing anything much to vibrate, and so there is no 'back emf' so the transmitter isn't having any power drawn from it, or negligible power.
You can see I really don't understand how to describe this properly, but perhaps you can imagine it at a much slower scale.
If I had a wheel with a magnet on the rim and I was spinning it fast, then the magnet would be creating an oscillating magnetic field,
But if I then placed another stationary magnet near the wheel then that magnet would oscillate as the wheel spins, and I'd be able to use that movement as some kind of energy.
BUT , its not free energy, because the wheel would actually be spinning slower and slower because of the back force coming from that stationary magnet on the outside.
If Airpower really is bi-directional, as some are claiming, and presumably the new AirPods case will still have a lightning adapter right?
So , if I want to charge my phone I just plug in my AirPods case, and place my iPhone X on top of it.
They both charge up, only one lightning connecter needed etc..
I just put my phone on top of my current AirPod case and it sits on top quite happily, If the new one was a little less rounded and shiny perhaps, or had some little dimples on one side, it would be perfect.
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Oh, I don't that is correct, but perhaps someone with a better understanding of Physics can confirm.
As I understood it the field that extends the area containing the AirPods isn't causing anything much to vibrate, and so there is no 'back emf' so the transmitter isn't having any power drawn from it, or negligible power.
You can see I really don't understand how to describe this properly, but perhaps you can imagine it at a much slower scale.
If I had a wheel with a magnet on the rim and I was spinning it fast, then the magnet would be creating an oscillating magnetic field,
But if I then placed another stationary magnet near the wheel then that magnet would oscillate as the wheel spins, and I'd be able to use that movement as some kind of energy.
BUT , its not free energy, because the wheel would actually be spinning slower and slower because of the back force coming from that stationary magnet on the outside.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
When Apple gets around to that kind of charging, they'll call it "air" or "magic" or "kuku-cachoo" or some other such term. For now, THEY are using "wireless" instead of induction: https://www.apple.com/iphone-x/#wireless-charging
Correct Apple if you will and this crowd will quickly follow.
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Wireless seems like the best description to me, because it is charging without any wires.
If you could charge at long distance without any wires, then I'd expect that to be called something like LDWireless ( where LD stands for Long Distance )
Sure you can. No one is stopping you from doing so. But realize you're introducing fake elements into an already suspect story. You've pretty much moved into fan-fic territory at that point.
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This bi-directional claim. You have a source for that? Afaik, wireless charging uses a transmitter coil in the charger and a receiver coil in the device.
All these analysts and not one can think that maybe you could sit your iPhone facing down with the AirPods on top....
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.
Most likely an error and it's just the AirPower thing, but it would be cool if future iPhone models could do the charging in reverse.
Looking at some random teardowns of wireless chargers, the charging coils seem thicker than the receiving coils on the iPhone end. Perhaps since it's a small enough battery there would be a way to charge the AirPods fairly quickly without the iPhone getting too hot or requiring advanced hardware if there is some way to reverse the current? My iPhone X battery has a lot of spare power at the end of most days, and with TSMC moving to 7nm chip fab, perhaps the iPhone would be more likely to have enough extra juice to do things like this. It's not like it would need to be done all the time, and in most situations you could just top it off for one use (5 hours, 20.8% battery or about 3% of total iPhone battery).
I think what's more interesting about this potential is the ability of the iPhone to charge the Apple Watch. If I remember right, even the 42mm battery is a little smaller than the AirPods charging case battery, so in theory it should be possible if it's also possible to charge the new AirPods case. And that's a big "if."
It might work if Apple was holding back on the size of battery they put in the original Airpods case. If they could have included a larger battery all along in the same form factor. Apple has been know to hold back stuff like that so they can issue version 2 with better specs to get people to buy the Airpods again.
What I want to know is can the current air pod case be charged wirelessly? Isn’t that what that metal strip on the back is for?
IF this happens...it won't be soon. AirPower isn't even a reality yet. And Apple announced that. Maybe their definition of soon is different from everyone else's.