Apple’s 10th-anniversary edition of iPhone, widely dubbed as the iPhone 8, is rumored to come with wireless charging capabilities when launched later this year. But what most of the out there fail to understand is that it is not going to be a truly wireless charging, but an inductive charging feature.
An inductive wireless charging requires the device to be in a physical contact with the charger. A true wireless charging does not require a physical contact with the charger itself and can charge the device within a specific range.
It remained a mystery whether Apple will include the inductive charger with the iPhone 8 box or sell it as a separate accessory. John Gruber, an Apple Pandit, claims that Apple it planning on selling the inductive charger as a separate accessory, and if that’s not disappointing, its shipment might get delayed and may launch alongside iOS 11.1 release.
I’ve heard that inductive charging will (a) be sold separately, and (b) might be late, waiting for iOS 11.1 (a la Portrait mode last year). https://t.co/N65dHMNQIJ
— John Gruber (@gruber) July 8, 2017
Apple adopted a similar strategy with the release of portrait mode, which was one of the spotlight features of the iPhone 7 Plus. Despite its announcement at the unveiling of the device, the Portrait mode for the iPhone 7 Plus users was only available with the release of iOS 10.1 software update later in the month of October.
iPhone 8 was long rumored to feature long-range wireless charging capabilities, however, the technology does not seem to be ready for the prime time yet. So we are going to see an inductive wireless charging in iPhone 8 juts like the Apple Watch that requires a charging pad.
This is in line with one of the recent notes from the trusted Ming-Chi Kuo of the KGI Securities which said that the 2017 iPhone models will launch with a 5W USB-A power adapter, but the wireless charger will be sold as a separate accessory. Kuo reiterated some previous reports claiming that these new iPhone models will be made of glass bodies and metal frames and each device will be capable of wireless charging.
According to the reports and rumors so far, the 10th anniversary iPhone 8 is going to be the start of the Apple’s iPhone lineup later this year. The introduction of “notch display” in the OLED iPhone 8 will make it the smartphone with highest screen-to-body ratio available in the market. Other features of the three new iPhone models are expected to be a Lightning port with an embedded USB-C IC for faster charging, 64GB and 256GB storage options, 3GB RAM for the larger devices and 2GB for the 4.7-inch iPhone variant.
Would you be disappointed if the iPhone 8 gets only the inductive charging, not the long-range one? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.