Apple’s wireless charging pad won’t land for quite some time

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iPhone 8 wireless charging
For now, you'll have to use third party Qi chargers.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple’s been working on its own wireless charging accessory, but don’t necessarily expect to see it to ship alongside the company’s new iPhones.

That’s according to respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities. While the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X will reportedly all support wireless inductive charging standards, users must settle for third-party Qi chargers (at least at first).

It’s not clear how long Apple’s solution will take to arrive, but it’s not yet entered production. That’s because Apple is said to be waiting on unspecified “technological breakthroughs” to take place before it commits to mass production.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that Apple won’t discuss the charger at today’s big iPhone X event, however. Last year, Apple showed off its wireless AirPods at September’s iPhone event, although manufacturing problems didn’t see them actually ship to customers until Christmas was almost upon us.

Apple wireless charging problems

From relatively early on in the 2017 iPhone production process, issues with Apple’s wireless charging technology have been reported. It was even claimed that Apple was working on futuristic technology that used 5GHz radio frequency signals, coupled with beam-forming tech, to allow the iPhone to be charged completely wirelessly, without special pads. Eventually, these reports faded away.

In February, Apple joined the Wireless Power Consortium, the group behind Qi technology.

How much of a big deal is the iPhone’s ability to charge using inductive charging pads? Will it make or break your decision to go with the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus or 10th anniversary iPhone X over an existing handset on the market? Leave us a comment below with your thoughts on the importance of wireless charging tech.

Via: 9to5Mac

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