New, faster Qi wireless charging spec could get an iPhone from 0 to 60% in 30 minutes

Posted:
in iPhone edited July 2015
The Wireless Power Consortium has updated its popular Qi wireless power specification to include a new 15-watt fast charging mode, meaning that if Apple eventually does choose to expand the availability of wireless charging across its product range, it could do so with no detriment to charging times.


One of many third-party Qi adapters designed for the iPhone


The new standard is designed to bring Qi --?which is offered in numerous flagship Android and Windows Phone handsets, as well as other personal electronics --?closer to the capabilities of modern wired power delivery systems. Recent developments have allowed some manufacturers to include wired quick-charge modes that can fill as much as 30 percent of a mobile phone's battery in as little as 15 minutes.

Qi's low power mode -- the variant used to charge mobile devices -- was previously limited to 5 watts, making it noticeably slower than simply plugging a device into the wall.

"This release marks an important milestone for Qi, introducing the first higher power class and paving the way for our members to address more demanding applications with products that work seamlessly with the installed base of Qi-compatible products," WPC chairman Menno Treffers said in a release.

After years of publicly panning the technology, Apple released its first wireless charging-enabled product earlier this year with the Apple Watch. The new wearable was found to be Qi compatible, but it is not certified and Apple is not a member of the Wireless Power Consortium, making Apple's plans in this area unclear.

The Qi standard is open, so Apple may have simply used the specification as a foundation for its own efforts. The company is known to have investigated wireless charging in many variations over the years, leading to a number of rumors that it may finally adopt the technology in future iPhones and iPads.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 41
    jbdragonjbdragon Posts: 2,305member
    Can we stop with this wireless garbage!!!! If your device has to sit on a mat that's plugged into something, it's NOT wireless charging!!! In fact it's pretty lame. I'd rather plug into a cable because at least I can then move the phone about, use it and look at it and still have it charging which is pretty hard to do laying flat and not being able to pick it up.

    Until I can walk around a room holding and using my phone and it's charging, that's wireless charging. This other thing is slightly easier yet much more expensive wired charging. No thanks!!!! It's a Gimmick!!!
  • Reply 2 of 41
    pmzpmz Posts: 3,433member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by JBDragon View Post



    Can we stop with this wireless garbage!!!! If your device has to sit on a mat that's plugged into something, it's NOT wireless charging!!! In fact it's pretty lame. I'd rather plug into a cable because at least I can then move the phone about, use it and look at it and still have it charging which is pretty hard to do laying flat and not being able to pick it up.



    Until I can walk around a room holding and using my phone and it's charging, that's wireless charging. This other thing is slightly easier yet much more expensive wired charging. No thanks!!!! It's a Gimmick!!!



    Thank you. Round of applause please. When people talk about wireless charging I feel like I'm surrounded by crazies.

     

    Thankfully, Apple still gets it.

  • Reply 3 of 41
    jbdragon wrote: »
    Can we stop with this wireless garbage!!!! If your device has to sit on a mat that's plugged into something, it's NOT wireless charging!!! In fact it's pretty lame. I'd rather plug into a cable because at least I can then move the phone about, use it and look at it and still have it charging which is pretty hard to do laying flat and not being able to pick it up.

    Until I can walk around a room holding and using my phone and it's charging, that's wireless charging. This other thing is slightly easier yet much more expensive wired charging. No thanks!!!! It's a Gimmick!!!

    Yeah, this tech should be called slow, contactless charging that costs extra. But you know marketing. They didn't like that idea. ;)
  • Reply 4 of 41
    even though I understand why the iphone changed connectors, and the existence of docking ports and devices. The ease of laying the phone down on a pad on the nightstand at the end of the night in the dark seems much easier than fishing for a cable to plug the phone in.

    But I do get the problem with not being able to charge wirelessly and use it when I'm in my 10 year old car. I guess I'll just have to mess around with the tangle of cables between the drivers side and passenger side. And these wireless chargers aren't great solutions either for charging in the car.
  • Reply 5 of 41
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,275member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by JBDragon View Post



    Can we stop with this wireless garbage!!!! If your device has to sit on a mat that's plugged into something, it's NOT wireless charging!!! In fact it's pretty lame. I'd rather plug into a cable because at least I can then move the phone about, use it and look at it and still have it charging which is pretty hard to do laying flat and not being able to pick it up.



    Until I can walk around a room holding and using my phone and it's charging, that's wireless charging. This other thing is slightly easier yet much more expensive wired charging. No thanks!!!! It's a Gimmick!!!

     

    Agreed! The only real practical application for this might be in a car where I can use most functions through the car's steering wheel controls or voice control. Even then, most people don't realize that short bursts of charging kills the battery over the long term. For best life expectancy, you really should drain the phone to between 15-20% and then charge to full. charging for 10  minutes here and 15 minutes there is the worst thing you can do.

  • Reply 6 of 41
    uraharaurahara Posts: 733member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by JBDragon View Post



    Can we stop with this wireless garbage!!!! If your device has to sit on a mat that's plugged into something, it's NOT wireless charging!!! In fact it's pretty lame. I'd rather plug into a cable because at least I can then move the phone about, use it and look at it and still have it charging which is pretty hard to do laying flat and not being able to pick it up.



    Until I can walk around a room holding and using my phone and it's charging, that's wireless charging. This other thing is slightly easier yet much more expensive wired charging. No thanks!!!! It's a Gimmick!!!



    No we can't. Because your WLAN rooter is also (by your logic) not wireless. It is connected by a cord to the plug socket, and most likely either to telephone or TV slot connection in the wall. And those cords in the wall... well, they are running thousands of miles...

    So how can we stop with wireless, if nothing is wireless? If there is nothing, you can't stop nothing. And you can't call it garbage.

    But what we can stop - is you being so angry that the technology is so slow, and that you wish a flying skateboard and flying cars. You are angry than in 2015 you live almost in the same universe as in 1985. Good luck to you finding another universe.

  • Reply 7 of 41
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Urahara View Post

     



    No we can't. Because your WLAN rooter is also (by your logic) not wireless. It is connected by a cord to the plug socket, and most likely either to telephone or TV slot connection in the wall. And those cords in the wall... well, they are running thousands of miles...


    You don't have to set your device on top of the router for the internet connection to work.

  • Reply 8 of 41
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by JBDragon View Post



    Can we stop with this wireless garbage!!!! If your device has to sit on a mat that's plugged into something, it's NOT wireless charging!!! In fact it's pretty lame. I'd rather plug into a cable because at least I can then move the phone about, use it and look at it and still have it charging which is pretty hard to do laying flat and not being able to pick it up.



    Until I can walk around a room holding and using my phone and it's charging, that's wireless charging. This other thing is slightly easier yet much more expensive wired charging. No thanks!!!! It's a Gimmick!!!

     

    I guess the 0.5 seconds of time saved from placing the phone on the mat outweighs ALL those other things, according to the grotesquely lazy trolls that pretend that this kind of "wireless charging" is such an incredible feature. Or, maybe it's so "incredible" only because iPhones don't have it. 

  • Reply 8 of 41
    jbdragon wrote: »
    Can we stop with this wireless garbage!!!! If your device has to sit on a mat that's plugged into something, it's NOT wireless charging!!!

    While I hear, understand, and agree with a lot of what you wrote, I will say that the tangle of wires that I need to deal with to keep the many iOS devices in my household charged is getting a little ridiculous.

    Something I would be very interested in - and something I would not think is a gimmick at all - would be a large, fast charging pad capable of simultaneously charging all of the devices I lay down on it. That way I could have one charging pad with one wire and charge my watch, iPad, and the several iPhones I have in my household at the same time.

    That is a convenience I would love to have!
  • Reply 10 of 41
    singularitysingularity Posts: 1,328member
    slurpy wrote: »
    I guess the 0.5 seconds of time saved from placing the phone on the mat outweighs ALL those other things, according to the grotesquely lazy trolls that pretend that this kind of "wireless charging" is such an incredible feature. Or, maybe it's so "incredible" only because iPhones don't have it. 
    I'm surprised Apple hadn't had wireless charging so far for the iPhone aesthetically it's much nicer to be able to place it on a pad for charging than have another cable cluttering up the place. If this means Apple introduce it into a later model all the better.
  • Reply 11 of 41
    kkerstkkerst Posts: 330member
    Physics man, physics.
  • Reply 12 of 41
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by JBDragon View Post



    Can we stop with this wireless garbage!!!! If your device has to sit on a mat that's plugged into something, it's NOT wireless charging!!! In fact it's pretty lame. I'd rather plug into a cable because at least I can then move the phone about, use it and look at it and still have it charging which is pretty hard to do laying flat and not being able to pick it up.



    Until I can walk around a room holding and using my phone and it's charging, that's wireless charging. This other thing is slightly easier yet much more expensive wired charging. No thanks!!!! It's a Gimmick!!!



    JB...you nailed it!   What's the difference in a cable attached to a "mat" or a cable attached to your phone??   Like another person said...with my phone plugged in at my desk...I can still use it and it's still charging...

  • Reply 13 of 41
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,241member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Urahara View Post

     



    No we can't. Because your WLAN rooter is also (by your logic) not wireless. It is connected by a cord to the plug socket, and most likely either to telephone or TV slot connection in the wall. And those cords in the wall... well, they are running thousands of miles...

    So how can we stop with wireless, if nothing is wireless? If there is nothing, you can't stop nothing. And you can't call it garbage.

    But what we can stop - is you being so angry that the technology is so slow, and that you wish a flying skateboard and flying cars. You are angry than in 2015 you live almost in the same universe as in 1985. Good luck to you finding another universe.




    Wow, to me 2015 is a lot different than 1985, which is also a lot different than the early 1950's when I was born. I guess you haven't lived through much to see the differences.

     

    That being said, wireless charging is actually called inductive charging using a magnetic field to transfer energy between two devices. To many people, inductive charging is beyond their understanding while wireless simply means no wired connections ("dumb" things down so more people can understand the concept without having to understand the technical properties being used). I don't like the term being used on mobile devices because I actually thought they were using some kind of power-over-WiFi to charge the phone but they aren't. A WLAN/WiFi router presents a wireless network connection to a wired network. The power plug doesn't matter but your comment about the   internet connection does (except for the part about the TV slot connection--that's actually an ethernet connection over (usually) cable broadband, it has nothing to do with a TV even though the cable TV uses the same cable it doesn't use the same electronic signal on that cable). Regardless, the moral of the story is that the marketing people don't want to educate the world by using technical terms that actually correctly define what's going on, they want to use terms that people are already familiar with to define more or less what's going on. 

     

    With this higher power charging capability, I wonder when the first article will come out about a mobile phone catching fire. Probably not until an iPhone with inductive charging is released and someone puts a tissue between the charging station and the iPhone and it catches fire because of the heat generated by the magnetic field. Anyone who's seen "How it's Made" has seen metal being heated to a glowing read by a electromagnetic field in a second or two. I'd rather use a cable and lower-power charger that's designed to charge my iPhone in a reasonable amount of time instead of trying to blow it up.

  • Reply 14 of 41
    adrayvenadrayven Posts: 460member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sog35 View Post

     

     

    Nope.  You are crazy.

     

    The ideal is having a small mat that you can charge ALL YOUR DEVICES at the same time.

     

    2 ipads, 3 iPhones, all getting charged.  One Plug.  That is the ideal.  If you only have 1 device wireless charging is lame.  But if you have 5 devices it gets rid of a ton of wires.


     

    I enjoy Qi charging, especially in the car. It eliminates the problem of 2 handed plug and unplug in a vehicle and is much safer to just pull a phone out and place in a Qi compatible Smartphone car mount. iOttie makes a really nice one...

     

    So many just don't get it.. For me, I hate cables, so it's that I can setup and permanently hide all the ugly wires on my office desk, home office, and car.. I don't have to worry about digging around for a cable that fell off my desk or under my bed. I installed Qi compatible docks in the car, at my office and home so I see no wires, it's out of the way, and looks nice. I'm ready for Wireless Carplay, which will work well with Qi. No lighting connectors, just set it in the car dock and go. 

     

    Some of the cabled docks are better, but usually require 2 hands to dismount and I'm often carrying stuff or in a car. Ascetically, I love Qi, even if it's still 'wired' to the Qi dock, it's just nice to not mess with cables in most cases now. In that respect, once you're setup, you really are wireless when it comes to Qi.

     

    Anyway. I've grown to like Qi, just because you don't like it doesn't make it a bad or invalidate the technology. 

  • Reply 15 of 41
    dtidmoredtidmore Posts: 145member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rob53 View Post

    With this higher power charging capability, I wonder when the first article will come out about a mobile phone catching fire. Probably not until an iPhone with inductive charging is released and someone puts a tissue between the charging station and the iPhone and it catches fire because of the heat generated by the magnetic field. Anyone who's seen "How it's Made" has seen metal being heated to a glowing read by a electromagnetic field in a second or two. 


    Please, STOP with the hype.  15W over an inductive coupling the size of the Qi setup is NOT going to even make things warm!  Putting anything between the two sides ONLY diminishes the power that is transferred.  It does NOT heat whatever is between them (magnetic fields do NOT heat anything...if there is heating it is due to resistance to the current induced into the receiving side).  The Qi system constantly negotiates the charge rate via communications between the charging pad and the device.  The magnetic induction heating that you mentioned IS how inductive cooktops work, but understand they output 1000-1500 watts minimum, not 15 watts and they DON'T turn the pan red hot in seconds!  

     

    I routinely plug my iPhone 6 into my iPad charger (iPad charger is 12W).  There is no abnormal heating of the iPhone but it DOES charge faster than using the 5W charger.  The concept of raw charging went out the window when Lithium Ion batteries came into the picture.  In order to make them safe (remember the early days of Lithium battery fires), charging is TIGHTLY controlled by the circuitry associated with the battery, NOT with the charger.  

     

    I have used PowerMat cases on every iPhone from the iPhone 4 up to the iPhone 5S (which my spouse still uses).  I don't have an issue with plugging in my iPhone 6 but the convenience of not having to mess with a cord is missed.   If there was a decent wireless charging case option for the iPhone 6 I would be using it.

     

    All this fear and misinformation regarding contactless charging technology is misplaced.  No one is making ANYONE adopt such a technology.  Apple is likely to include contactless charging as an option on the iPhone at some point assuming the experience from the apple watch is satisfactory.  FYI, the next gen of chips from INTEL include everything necessary to support the more advanced form of Qi (i.e. resonance) which will allow charging at a distance...at least a short distance, so look for a future MacBook that will charge your future iPhone/ipad and potentially your apple watch without any cords or the need to lay them on top of anything.

  • Reply 16 of 41
    fallenjtfallenjt Posts: 4,053member

    I'm not sure if it's because of me or what, but I don't see any advantage of placing iPhone on the charging plate over inserting the lighting cable. So, for Apple, if they make wireless charger, they still need the lightning cable + the charger unit but doesn't get any faster charging. What is the benefit?

  • Reply 17 of 41
    agramonteagramonte Posts: 345member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by JBDragon View Post



    Can we stop with this wireless garbage!!!! If your device has to sit on a mat that's plugged into something, it's NOT wireless charging!!! In fact it's pretty lame. I'd rather plug into a cable because at least I can then move the phone about, use it and look at it and still have it charging which is pretty hard to do laying flat and not being able to pick it up.



    Until I can walk around a room holding and using my phone and it's charging, that's wireless charging. This other thing is slightly easier yet much more expensive wired charging. No thanks!!!! It's a Gimmick!!!

     

    nonsense, we have them at the office. People just placed their phones on them and pick them up whenever they need. No dock, wire, finding a port or anything - no need to think about charging your phone you just place it on the desk. They also have tons of versions, you can pick one that stands the phone up.

     

    This is another one of those things that everyone will play hate until Apple starts using it like NFC and 5+ inch screens.

  • Reply 18 of 41
    fallenjtfallenjt Posts: 4,053member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton View Post





    Yeah, this tech should be called slow, contactless charging that costs extra. But you know marketing. They didn't like that idea. image

    Not true, it's still contact charging and it's pure gimmick.

  • Reply 19 of 41
    wigbywigby Posts: 692member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by JBDragon View Post



    Can we stop with this wireless garbage!!!! If your device has to sit on a mat that's plugged into something, it's NOT wireless charging!!! In fact it's pretty lame. I'd rather plug into a cable because at least I can then move the phone about, use it and look at it and still have it charging which is pretty hard to do laying flat and not being able to pick it up.



    Until I can walk around a room holding and using my phone and it's charging, that's wireless charging. This other thing is slightly easier yet much more expensive wired charging. No thanks!!!! It's a Gimmick!!!



    So your only gripe with "wireless charging" is simply the name. I'm not saying wireless charging is going to be the charging savior we all want but I've had my share of dirty and broken charging contacts inside iPhones and on most every lightning connector too. I wouldn't mind a contactless charging system that delivered charging speeds that matched current charging speeds, especially if it could be implemented into the latest iPhone with minimal engineering and design compromises.

  • Reply 20 of 41
    adrayvenadrayven Posts: 460member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by dtidmore View Post

     

    All this fear and misinformation regarding contactless charging technology is misplaced.  No one is making ANYONE adopt such a technology.  Apple is likely to include contactless charging as an option on the iPhone at some point assuming the experience from the apple watch is satisfactory.  FYI, the next gen of chips from INTEL include everything necessary to support the more advanced form of Qi (i.e. resonance) which will allow charging at a distance...at least a short distance, so look for a future MacBook that will charge your future iPhone/ipad and potentially your apple watch without any cords or the need to lay them on top of anything.


     

    Completely agree.. and it's coming, Apple has been pushing out wireless charging patents like they are going out of style this past year. Add Skylake into the mix and the new Macbook, and Apple really wants to kill the cable.. In the end I would not be surprised if eventually, like the floppy, we start seeing ports on the iPhone and tablet disappear completely.

     

    Mark my words, the lifespan of USB / charging ports on smartphones is on it's way out. With Intel's Wireless USB, that will eventually come to smartphones and tablets.. yeah.. not long. 

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