There has been much speculation on what the iPhone 6 models may include to distinguish itself from the rest of the smartphones out there in the wild. In fact, there have been numerous reports to state that Apple are gearing up for their largest iPhone release in history, which would go on to suggest that there is something serious special about this next model.
Amongst the numerous rumours floating around, including suggestions of NFC, improved cameras and numerous sensors for health tracking…wireless charging is a big one. But I don’t think this will become a reality, and my reasoning for this is probably quite abstract, but it is to do with the iWatch. In fact, the very reason I believe the iPhone 6 will NOT include wireless charging, is because it will be designed as the perfect marriage partner for the iWatch.
“Huh?!”, I hear you sound off….but let me explain:
One of the biggest challenges in the world of wearables is how to make sure these devices either have a battery life that lasts so long, you don’t need to think about charging it more than once every blue moon (think Pebble or Sony Smartwatch) OR that there is some easy way to charge it that feels natural.
Currently, Android Wear devices tend to verge on the side of wireless charging via a dedicated cradle, but this has it’s inherent disadvantages. While it may seem convenient to just take off the device at night and put it in a cradle, it is not yet part of your everyday routine, and thus people are already forgetting to do this every night. PLUS, it is yet another charging device that takes up a wall socket, creating more wires plugged into your wall.
So here is the crazy idea that I think is just so innovative, it could only come from Apple:
The iPhone 6 will NOT include wireless charging…it will in fact BE A WIRELESS CHARGER.
Think about this for a second. Wireless charging, is exactly that…it is the act of placing a device either on or close to a wireless charging pad. This pad needs to be plugged into a wall socket to be powered. Whichever way you look at it, if you implement some kind of wireless charging (including via a dedicated cradle), there is still an additional device that needs to be plugged in. Even Phil Schiller pointed this out previously.
So let’s see…what is the one thing that is required to make the iWatch work to it’s full potential? An iPhone! This is not news to us. But what this means is that you will never have an iWatch without having an iPhone. The iPhone truly is the hub of the Apple world now, and this includes the being a hub for the iWatch.
So imagine it, you plug your iPhone in to charge before bed as you are used to. It is part of your routine…why change that? Now all you need to do is place the iWatch on or near your iPhone 6 as it charges, and the iWatch will be charged at the same time, drawing it’s charge directly from the iPhone 6 itself.
But let’s take it a step further…
It’s true…the technology already exists that dictates you don’t require your device to actually be touching it’s respective charger in order to give the battery some juice. So why should that be different with the iWatch?
I charge my iPhone in the car as well as at my desk at work. With the iPhone 6 being an actual wireless charger, all I need to do is plug it in my car or computer at work, and like magic, the iWatch is charged while I still have it on my wrist! By these standards, you could be charging your iWatch throughout the day, whenever you plug your iPhone 6 in. If the battery in the iWatch is good enough, you may not even need to charge it at night…it just charges throughout the day.
I previously wrote a long post dedicated to other ways of charging your iWatch, but I think this could be the most innovative way of doing things…and when it comes to Apple, innovation is key.
Am I talking nonsense? Well this is all speculation of course, but all the clues add up to suggest the iPhone 6 is going to be a hit…this is just another reason as to why: for nearly every iWatch purchased, you have an iPhone 6 purchased. It’s just that added benefit that may cause people to buy both together.
For any people who don’t want to buy an iPhone 6 for these reasons, there will still be a cradle…but we all know what happens when something truly special is announced from Apple: people buy! If this comes to fruition, I will be buying!
My eyebrows raised when I realized where you were as soon as you started talking about charging the iWatch, and it’s a brilliant idea to have the iPhone be the wireless charger! Kudos, really good idea!
However, I wouldn’t get too excited as my gut (I have no data to back this up) tells me that the iPhone 6 will be too slim to act as a wireless charger. I don’t see enough room inside the phone for a coil of wire that would be thick enough to carry enough current to generate a strong enough magnetic field for inductive charging. I’m no electrical engineer, but know enough to be dangerous and I’d think that a coil of such thin wire as would fit inside the silly thin case of the iPhone 6 (based on the rumors and “leaks”) wouldn’t be enough. Then again, it might not be enough for charging at a distance, but might be enough to charge the iWatch sitting directly on the back of the iPhone since the iWatch won’t need as much juice as a phone. Still though, not sure. Another problem is the fact that we can safely assume the back of the iPhone 6 will be metal, likely aluminum again. This too poses big problems for wireless charging, and it would probably need to be plastic as the metal might at as shielding?? Lots of questions. It’s a really cool idea, but the technical aspects of it might be very difficult if not impossible without drastic changes to the iPhone. Would be great to get an opinion from an actual electrical engineer.
Great article… Could and hopefully be a fact!
A more reasonable option would be the ability to charge the iWatch through the lightning port on any existing iOS device, as well as from USB.
I don’t think the iPhone will have wireless charging, but I find it even less likely for it to be a wireless charger itself.
sounds cool. so, not leaving my hopes high on this.
maybe that’s why the Apple Logo is cut out of the leaked shots. not sure how conductive liquid metal might be.
Wireless charging is induction, not conduction…metal is actually a bad thing. Metal phones can’t wireless charge…because it distracts the magnetic field that makes the bond.
really? wow. So my iwatch dies my iphone dies.
I don’t think you understand how wireless charging works. Yes, it is wireless, but there is a coil in the charging pad and an adjacent coil in the battery. When they are lined up and within a very short range of each other they connect, and inductively send current. This couldn’t be achieved by putting a device next to another device. As for putting a watch on your phone…yeah I don’t see that happening…plus it would be impossible since the coil would have to be where the screen is….so I guess you would have to plug your phone in and flip it upside down to charge your watch. Yeah, I don’t see this happening….ever.
I am sorry if I sound harsh, but this is bullshit. There is absolutely no advantage your idea offers. absolutely no advantage. iPhone for most users already struggles to pull one complete day, over that charging your apple watch using the power in iPhone means suicide for iPhone mid-day. And what are you going to do with apple watch if iPhone is dead.
I’m sorry but you don’t seem to have a deep understand of technology. You shouldn’t be writing articles…
Utter crap. I wear a watch and i have no difficulty charging it. The new cars will have the charge pad and thus the iphone will miss out on that. There was absolutely no apparent reason or apple to leave this feature out and I know that they will introduce it with the 6s as by next year most of the family class sedans, SUVs, Jeeps manufactured throughout 2015 will have the wireless charging and this added feature will make sense to the owners of these vehicles to scurry and but the 6s. Apple isnt innovating crap, it used to, now it just copies and claims there doing it better. And yes I own a Macbook and Iphone 6 plus and have been using the phones since the 3Gs.