The iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus have seen a focus on battery life, but Apple still refuses to follow the smartphone industry in adopting a number of technologies that help users keep their smartphones fully charged through the day, notably quick-charge circuits and wireless charging. A number of recently released patents point to an answer for the next iPhone, and the key could be the Apple logo on the back of the smartphone.
Apple currently uses electrical induction and wireless charging on the Apple Watch. Powering the current crop of wearables has seen different manufacturers use a variety of connectors and cables, from hidden microUSB sockets and docking cradles to magnetically attached cables and the use of wireless charging circuits just under the surface. Getting power quickly into a portable device continues to be a challenge, and it should come as no surprise that Apple is investing heavily in research and patenting its discoveries.
The most recent patent shows one part of the solution using magnets to ensure that two elements are lined up correctly and cites the example of lining up inductive charging elements, held in place by magnets. It also illustrates a method for the magnets to guide the placement and snap the elements into the correct position. That would remove the need for careful and accurate placement - as long as the user manages to get the cable in the rough location, physics will do the rest.
The patent mentions the use of technology in the Apple Watch but also for the iPad, the MacBook, and docking devices, while the iPhone is prominent in the illustrative diagrams.
Next: Adding all the patents together to find Apple's solution...
Apple has filed a number of patents in this area (indeed this is the fifth patent published this year on wireless charging), showing more than a passing interest in the field. One patent talks about the magnetic shielding required to protect other electronic elements against the magnetic eddy currents inductive charging creates. Previously reported on Forbes is a patent on using non-traditional elements in a casing to create the circuit paths required for charging.
If you consider Apple's recent patents as a whole, there's an argument to be made that the next-generation iPhone could be charged through the back of the device, perhaps even symbolically through the Apple logo itself.
Such an approach would require a redesign of the iPhone. Apple has never been shy of reworking the internals for each new release (3D Touch in the latest iPhone is one such example), but changes to the external design are generally left to the natural numbered updates.
Why would Apple look at wireless charging? If the iPhone 6 family has an Achilles' heel it's the battery. The relatively small battery in the iPhone 6 was cut down for the iPhone 6S and while smart programming in iOS 9 and aggressive low-power modes for the user to select can get the smartphone to last a full day without a sip of power, there's a reason that external battery cases are so popular in the accessories market.
Having spent time with other smartphones using wireless charging (with the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge heavily promoting the technology) the ability to have a smartphone be charging every time it is set down on an office desk or workspace and not tied down by any cables that have to be removed is a revelation - don't knock it until you try it. It might not help while travelling, but far more use cases for smartphones are based around fixed locations. This makes wireless charging something that I specifically look for in any new design.
It's time that Apple joined the wireless party.
No doubt Tim Cook will want to put its own spin on this, to take the current standards and twist them slightly to make a unique Apple experience (and ensure the continued benefit of the 'Made for iPhone' program for manufacturers looking to make charging stands for the new smartphone). The recently published patents, along with those released earlier in the year, shows a path that Jony Ive is exploring with his design team at Apple.
It's time to put these ideas into practice. I know that Apple is a master at taking established technology and making it feel like an Apple invention three years after it debuts. If that's the bargain that needs to be made, so be it, I'll even let Tim Cook have a free pass to use the buzzword-bingo phrase of "charging your smartphone in a way that only Apple can."
Apple, make sure we can charge our next iPhone through the Apple logo.
(Now read my review of the iPhone 6S).
