Apple’s wireless charging technology for the Apple Watch,...
Apple’s wireless charging technology for the Apple Watch, which CEO Tim Cook suggested would be part of a user’s nightly ritual, didn’t do anything to settle the wireless charging competition among the three primary contenders: Alliance for Wireless Power, Power…
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Matters Alliance and Wireless Power Consortium. Concerns that the market would be muddied by a fourth competing standard were allayed on Apple Watch launch day “at least for another six to 12 months” ahead of the next watch announcement, said Ryan Sanderson, IHS analyst, in a research note. In fact, industry watchers said it appears that Apple Watch’s charger isn’t really wireless at all because it requires the watch to be tethered to the charger that’s held in place by a magnet. Apple Watch’s inductive wireless charging isn’t a “drop and charge” technology, “nor does it offer any range of movement” to the user, said Sanderson. It’s “essentially a wire with a magnet on the end,” Sanderson said. In a New York Times interview last week (http://nyti.ms/1sboEIP), Cook referred to the need for “finishing touches” as a reason why the Watch won’t be available by Christmas, leading the writer to speculate that improving battery life might be one of those touches. “Whilst Apple did announce a wireless charging solution for its eagerly awaited smartwatch,” it was “far from innovative when compared with other wireless charging technologies currently in production or in development,” Sanderson said. Existing wireless chargers typically use a pad or mat on which consumers can place an enabled device without the need to connect the two with a power cable. Advancements in wireless charging are beginning to offer more spatial freedom, so a phone doesn’t have to lie directly on a charging surface. That’s opening the door to furniture and countertops that can be charging locations, Sanderson noted. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, meanwhile, will ship without wireless charging support built in, Sanderson said. The lack of wireless charging capability in the new phones could indicate that the Watch’s technology is an interim step. Consumers who want wireless power charging for their phones will have to take the route users take today, using a case with a built-in wireless charging receiver along with a compatible charging pad with a transmitter. A Duracell product sells for $119 at the Apple Store, compared with a mophie juice pack battery extender case that sells for $79.