One place iPhone has seriously lagged behind Android is wireless charging, which Google's ecosystem has supported for years. It took until now for Apple's smartphone to receive wireless charging and the same can be said for a fast charge feature.
Apple briefly talked about a new version of AirPods at its presentation today at the Steve Jobs Theater, mentioning that an improved set of earbuds come with a case that supports wireless charging via industry-standard Qi wireless charger.
An anonymous source who reached out to AppleInsider on Tuesday says Apple is working on a multi-device wireless charging accessory for early 2018 launch.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities believes that Apple's own wireless charging accessory for the upcoming iPhones won't debut at today's event at the Steve Jobs Theater.
The ecosystem of third-party accessories has always been vast. You can find nearly anything you'd need for almost any Apple product. One thing I didn't expect to see a lot of accessories for? AirPods.
There isn't a limit to what accessory makers will come up with, because as it turns out, you can by an Apple MFi-certified charging dock for your AirPods: the Oittm Charging Station for AirPods.
Removal of MagSafe from the latest round of MacBooks and MacBook Pros was one of the most controversial changes. MagSafe was life saving when someone inadvertently tripped over your power cable. Preventing your $1,000+ machine from toppling to the ground.
USB-C has quite its list of advantages, but it was still a difficult design decision that still angers people to this day. Vinpok is looking to remedy that with their launch of the Bolt-S USB-C magnetic cable for MacBook and MacBook Pro.
Unlike iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, your Apple Watch plays its own charging sound when placed on its magnetic charging disk. Going by same logic, iPhone 8 should play a distinctively unique charging chime when connected to its wireless charger.
Polish YouTube user “MAKS+” claims to have discovered a brand new charging sound file in the latest beta of iOS 11. To be sure, there's no way of telling if it signifies a new wireless charging chime for iPhone 8.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAgpgtgrh88
As you can clearly tell yourself by listening to both sounds in the video above, the new wireless charging chime in the file named “engage_power.caf” does sound distinctively different compared to the regular charging sound in the audio file named “connect_power.caf”.
Don't get your hops up high: as noted by MacRumors, there are several other sound files in iOS 10 and 11 that are unused and do not have a purpose.
Put simply, there's really no way to confirm if this particular sound has been added as the new audible indicator that an iPhone 8 has been placed on an inductive wireless charger.
Thoughts?
Apple's 5.8-inch iPhone 8 is expected to ship with a stronger ten-watt power adapter in its box, featuring a USB-C connector and fast-charging support. That's according to Barclays analyst Blayne Curtis's note to clients Wednesday, a copy of which was obtained by MacRumors.
Current iPhones include a five-watt power adapter in the box.
The analyst claims that iPhone 8 will include a dedicated USB-C Power Delivery chip that enables fast charging capabilities. The new ten-watt power adapter will also sport an integrated USB-C Power Delivery chip. Both chips will be supplied by Cypress Semiconductor and it's basically the same CYPD2104 part used in Apple's new 10.5-inch iPad Pro.
It should be noted that iPhone 7 already supports fast-charging capability when connected to Apple's 29-watt USB-C power adapter for MacBook via a Lightning to USB-C cable.
The new 12.9-inch iPad Pro and the 10.5-inch iPad Pro are capable of fast charging, too.
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in March that the OLED-based iPhone 8 would retain its Lightning connector and have a dedicated USB-C Power Delivery chip on the logic board.
Assuming Curtis is right, iPhone 8 might come bundled with either a Lightning to USB-C cable or a female USB-C to male USB-A adapter with an integrated fast-charging chip so that customers could use their existing Lightning to USB cable to fast-charge the phone.
iPhone 8 concept courtesy of iFanr.
I do a lot of work at my office desk at home, and for that reason alone, I have a love for things that help keep my work space uncluttered. One of the things I like to have that helps with that is a good quality dock that I can use to put my iPhone or iPad somewhere without it taking up much real estate where I’ll be putting my papers or elbows.
The Gravitas dock by Henge Docks is a good choice, and in this review, we’ll give you an up-close look at it.
An unknown portion of early AirPods adopters are faced with battery drain issues with the charging case, which was designed to extend AirPods' advertised five-hour run time to up to 24 hours while on the go.
According to a thread on Reddit, one customer's charging case went from a full 100 percent charge to just fifty percent after leaving his AirPods in the case overnight. “The other two days I used about five hours and the case was already down to thirty percent,” one poster wrote.
Having torn apart Apple's AirPods wireless earphones and their charging case, repair masters over at iFixit have now posted their initial observations. AirPods have so many components crammed into tight space that the they're virtually not repairable or recyclable. As for the charging case, an X-ray analysis of its logic board reveals a few “quality issues” that may have contributed to the delayed AirPods launch.
Apple this morning updated its Support website with a notice cautioning customers to stay away from counterfeit and even some third-party chargers and batteries that it says could result in safety issues due to the fact that they may not be designed properly. “Beware of counterfeit parts,” says the notice. As for the batteries, the company is advising customers to visit an Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider to ensure they receive a genuine Apple battery replacement.