Will the new “iPhone 7” support Qi Wireless Charging? Well, the Apple Watch, with some restrictions, already supports Qi: “The Apple Watch charger that comes with the device is Qi based, but the firm decided not to submit it for interoperability testing,” John Perzow, VP of market development at the Wireless Power Consortium, told The Register. “I think they are using version 1.1.2 of Qi, but the software stack has been altered so that only Apple’s charger works with Watch.”
Could Apple do the same with the new iPhone 7? Maybe. However, according to the latest rumours, it seems like the iPhone 7 most likely won’t support Qi Wireless Charging. As both, The Week as well as Computerworld and Bloomberg highlight, it seems like Apple once more won’t adopt someone else’s (Qi / wireless charging) standard and instead develop their own (long-range wireless charging) solution.
What the latest rumours and John Perzow (WPC) say
Bloomberg highlights that “Apple Inc. is currently working with partners in the U.S. and Asia to develop new wireless charging technology that could be deployed on its mobile devices as soon as next year, according to people familiar with the plans.”
In addition to this, John Perzow, vice president of market development for the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC), says that “[even if] Qi already launched its extension and could charge resonantly from a couple inches away, […] I still don’t think Apple would use it; then anyone could make a cool wireless charger for the Apple Watch, and Apple would lose revenue. I don’t think they’ll adopt anybody’s standard.”
However, Apple’s rivals such as Samsung or Google are already far ahead in terms of wireless charging and offer smartphones as well as tablets with Qi integrated for years. For example, the Google Nexus 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 as well as the new Samsung Galaxy S6 / S6 edge / S6 edge+ or the Galaxy Note 2 / 3 / 4 all have Qi integrated (For an overview of all Qi Devices and Accessories, click here).
iPhone 7 Wireless Charging: Another year without support for Qi?
Although Qi resonant charging already offers wireless charging at greater distance (the transmitter can detect and charge existing Qi receivers at a distance up to 45mm), it seems like the company wants to have a solution which allows you to wirelessly charge your phone at an even greater distance.
While such a solution with an even greater range would indeed be great, you have to be aware of the fact, that the efficiency of the whole charging process would decrease the longer the distance gets. Furthermore, it would take some time to develop such a technology and compared to his rivals, Apple already lags behind in terms of wireless charging.
We are really looking forward to see what Apple is going to do in terms of wireless charging. Although it seems like Apple won’t integrate Qi in their new iPhone 7, we still would love to see the new iPhone 7 supporting Qi. But no matter whether Apple will integrate Qi in their new “iPhone 7” or not: We are sure that there will be accessories available for the new model(s) as well – either with or without MFi.
Sources / Pictures: The Register, Computerworld, The Week, Bloomberg, Apple
What do you think about Apple’s strategy when it comes to wireless charging? Would you buy the new iPhone 7, if it would support Qi? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!
