iPhone 7s Getting Rezence-Style Wireless Charging from iMacs?

Do you know what’s the problem with both Qi and Powermat wireless charging standards? Your smartphone (or whatever other device) effectively still needs to make physical contact with a charging pad. It looks like Apple is very actively working on a solution for this and next year’s iPhone 7s could come with wireless charging capabilities up to a meter away.

Based on reports obtained by Bloomberg, Apple could have an iPhone as early as 2017 that would use wireless charging technology based on near-field magnetic resonance. If that sounds familiar, that`s because it’s the same kind of tech that is behind Qualcomm WiPower, which in turn is based on the emerging Rezence standard under development.

Instead of having to place your phone on an actual charging mat, the power could be transmitted over the air over some distance. Indeed, Apple filed a patent back in 2012 wherein an iMac would operate as a central charging station. You’d sit down at your desk to work on your iMac and your iPhone would get charged as long as it was within range. This is even better than if you had to place your iPhone on the base of the iMac.

Of course, a big hurdle that needs to be overcome is the loss of power as it is transmitted over a distance. Even so, it’s become increasingly clear that Apple is very interested in wireless charging — it’s already being used in the Apple Watch, though not “through the air” like Rezence — and we could see it introduced in an iPhone 7s next year. It likely won’t be in this year’s iPhone 7 either way.

Via Bloomberg