How To Hack Your iPhone To Add Wireless Charging [Video]

By

Look! No wires.
Look! No wires.

If you’re waiting for Apple to add wireless charging to the iPhone, you could be waiting some time. We’ve been hearing rumors of its introduction for a number of years now, but five generations in, it’s yet to arrive. If you’re a skilled solderer, however, you could always add wireless charging to your iPhone yourself.

That’s what Tanveer did. He took apart a wireless charging case for the iPhone and installed its components into the iPhone 4S. Now all he has to do to charge it is place it down on a USB charging mat.

Tanveer used the Powermat for his hack, but you could probably use other iPhone wireless charging solutions as well. He does stress, however, that this isn’t a mod for just anyone. You’ll need patience, knowledge of your iPhone’s internals and how to disassemble and reassemble them, and some soldering skills.

Once you have all those things, you’ll then need to purchase a spare iPhone back panel, a spare charger port assembly, some very thin wire gauge, and of course a wireless charging accessory that you don’t mind dismantling. You must then proceed to solder the wire gauge onto pins 16, 23, 25, and 27 on the charger assembly port.

With the wire gauge in place, it’s then time to connect them up to the wireless receiver you’ve taken out of your charging accessory. Pin 16 must connect to 0v or ground, pin 23 to +5v, pin 25 to data-, and pin 27 to data+. Once that’s done, it’s time to test whether it works before modifying your spare rear panel and fitting it all together.

Tanveer explains the whole process in the video below:

It clearly takes some work, but it would seem it’s well worth it in the end if you’re successful.

Source: Ubergizmo

Video: YouTube

Newsletters

Daily round-ups or a weekly refresher, straight from Cult of Mac to your inbox.

  • The Weekender

    The week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.