Apple Wants Future iPhones To Be Charged Entirely by WiFi

Cord cutters, rejoice.

iPhone
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Imagine simply being able to charge your iPhone anywhere you can find a WiFi signal, whether you have lightning cables or not. Apparently Apple imagined that, and then filed a patent for it, reports Apple Insider

The “Wireless Charging and Communications Systems With Dual-Frequency Patch Antennas” wouldn’t be shooting electricity through the air, obviously. Apple Insider says that it’s pretty straightforward:

Like conventional wireless charging techniques, Apple’s design requires two devices —a transmitter and receiver —to function. Each device contains one or more antennas coupled to wireless circuitry capable of making phase and magnitude adjustments to transmitted and received signals. Such hardware can be employed in dynamic beam steering operations. 

Of course there’s a pretty big distance between merely filing a patent for something and actually making the technology usable, but wireless charging already exists in some respects and it’s likely Apple knows it’s racing competitors like Samsung

Wifi charging
USPTO

We’d be damn surprised if wireless charging capacity doesn’t show up in a new iPhone before 2020. 

It sure will be nice to kiss all those crappy, easily-frayed lightning cables goodbye.   

h/t Apple Insider

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