According to Patently Apple, Apple has been granted patents for tech which lets a MacBook charge an iPhone wirelessly. Along with getting their iPhones charged wirelessly, users can also charge their iPads and Apple Watch wirelessly.
The newly granted Apple illustrates a MacBook charging an iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch wirelessly. It also shows an iPad charging an iPhone and Apple watch wirelessly. The patents indicate a user working on a MacBook equipped with technology that would enable them to set their iPhone or their Apple Watch on the edges of the keyboard area of MacBook and charge the device.
If this patent turns into a reality, a typical MacBook user will not use to carry the typical chargers with them when they are on the go. The patents claim that 3 inductive charging zones will be fit inside a MacBook computer. Two inductive charging zones will be fit on the left and right side of the trackpad, while one underneath the trackpad.
One of the more interesting claims the patent makes is that the iOS devices could be stacked over each other. A total of nine inductive charging zones will be added in such a situation that would allow multiple devices stacked on each other to get charged.
Here’s what it means: a MacBook user will set their iPad on the MacBook to charge. They would then be able to put an iPhone on top of that iPad. And an Apple Watch on top of the said iPhone. The patent claims that all three devices will start charging wirelessly at the same time with power from the MacBook.
In typical Apple fashion, the company has buried the specifics of the patents in its usual tech jargon. This gives Apple enough room to remain as generic as possible and yet make the patent rock solid.
Patent Claim #1: “A portable electronic device comprising: an enclosure having a back surface and defining an opening opposite from the back surface; a display positioned within the opening of the enclosure; a first inductive coil and a second inductive coil positioned separate from the first inductive coil, both the first inductive coil and the second inductive coil being positioned within the enclosure and between the display and the back surface of the enclosure, and operable to wirelessly transmit power to, or receive power from, an external device positioned proximate to the enclosure.”
As we said, quite unclear in true Apple fashion. Though the claim paints a blissful wireless future, one has to remember that patents don’t always equate to production. True fans of Apple would remember Apple’s AirPower epic failure. In 2019, Apple had to cancel its wireless charging mat project called AirPower.
The project remained a failure of epic proportion thanks to the product failing to meet Apple’s epic quality standards.
Apple isn’t the first company that has worked on patents only to birth mediocre products. Apple’s true rival when it comes to smartphone sales Samsung too buried one of their projects. Samsung’s “Project V” was its first attempt at creating a foldable phone. The project was scrapped in 2016 due to the phone’s poor hinge mechanism that compromised overall quality.
True residents of geekdom are well aware that Apple’s MacBook wireless charging solution won’t be the first laptop that would adopt wireless charging (if it does at all). Laptops being able to wirelessly charge other devices go as back as 2017. In 2017, Dell launched its Latitude 7285 which was packing a wireless charging coil underneath its surface.
