iPhone 6 To Have New Wireless Charging Technology

According to a new report, Apple is working on implementing a new way to charge the iPhone 6, the sixth-generation iPhone. While the source hasn’t specified what such charging method would involve, or if it would replace the current USB charging method, many speculate that the iPhone 6 might be charged using “non-contact based platforms”.

Reports of the sixth iPhone have been quite scarce due to its far-away-from-launch nature. This source couldn’t have made it more clear that the iPhone 6 might not be charged through USB (at least exclusively), like the current one:

People briefed on Apple’s plans said the company is planning a major iPhone revamp then, with one person saying the company has been experimenting with features such as a new way of charging the phone

Connecting a device to a computer, or plugging it into the wall, is necessary but unpractical. Although information on this subject is very scarce, Apple has a reason to be working on replacing standard charging solutions, and they indeed might be, since previous patent filings have indeed pointed to new charging technologies. A patent filing from as early as February 2007 suggests this changeover:

When electrical contacts are used, the electrical contacts may be implemented in connectors and/or they may be surface or flush mounted on the housings of the portable electronic device and the docking station, In either case, each device includes a set of corresponding contacts that when in contact allow data and power to be transferred there through.

Other companies have experimented with this form of charging. Back in 2009, Palm (now a business division of HP) introduced a charging surface for its then-newly-released Palm Pre, which simply required the device to be placed on top of the charger. This method, much like the Palm Pre itself, have flopped, but a similar feature in an Apple product could succeed.