Apple is investigating the integration of multiple inductive charging coils into MacBooks and iPads for use as wireless chargers for other devices, according to a patent filed by Apple.
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The patent, seen by Clearly Apple, is entitled “Inductive Charging Between Electronic Devices” and was granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Apple has been researching device-to-device inductive charging technology since March 2016, when the patents now granted around it were first filed. It should be noted that Apple seems to be particularly interested in this area, filing several technology-related patents, and has now filed 40 new claims.
This patent shows how all of Apple’s mobile devices, including Apple watches, iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks, could use a wireless charging ecosystem together. The images included in the patent feature a significant number of different coil placements for a range of Apple portable devices to facilitate this system.
Apple presents a wide variety of possible implementations for wireless charging from device to device. For example, the cover of a MacBook may contain a series of upward-facing inductive coils, which allow the devices to be charged by resting on it. Coils could also be placed on the footrests and trackpad of a MacBook.
Crucially, the wireless charging system is bidirectional, with devices capable of receiving and transmitting power via inductive coils, allowing users to choose which device to charge. It can also be determined automatically by software based on which device has the largest load.
Apple’s proposed strategy seems to be to incorporate carefully positioned inductive charging coils into all of Apple’s mobile devices. For example, the patent explains how coils could be placed along the front and back of an iPad, allowing it to charge wirelessly from one side while transmitting the charge to another device in the iPad. ‘other side. As a result, the proposed system is highly interchangeable, with a large number of possible combinations of devices and locations.
It is even suggested that a collection of Apple devices could be charged together from a power source. An image depicts an Apple Watch charging from an iPhone, the iPhone from an iPad, the iPad from a MacBook, and the MacBook from a power cord. The text accompanying the image indicates “only a single power cord or no power cord may be needed to charge one or more of a group of devices that include electrically communicative inductive coils.”
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Apple has also considered an assortment of software integrations for the device-to-device wireless charging system. When a smaller device is placed on the screen of a larger device, such as an Apple Watch on the front of an PiPad, the screen on the iPad may indicate its “alignment condition” and the percentage of load.
Another more inventive software integration proposes that if the screen of an iPad is obstructed by loading an iPhone, the user interface of the iPad can be adjusted to display only content in the free part of the screen. There are also settings for scenarios in which the “iPhone” can be used to display content that has been clogged on the “iPad” screen, such as a row of home screen apps.
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The patent also repeatedly refers to a system of magnets that could be used to align devices with each other for charging, which appears to be surprisingly similar to Apple’s MagSafe system that debuted with the iPhone 12 line.
In some embodiments, the electronic device includes an alignment magnet located next to the inductive coil. The alignment magnet can be configured to help position the external device in relation to the electronic device …
The patent implies that this magnetic alignment system could be used on any of your portable devices to provide a better experience when charging wirelessly, and it would certainly make sense to extend MagSafe or a MagSafe-like system to more devices to support this ecosystem of devices. inductive charge to the device. Currently, MagSafe is only available on the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro.
If Apple integrated the proposed technology, a unified wireless charging system would be created on all Apple portable devices. The device-to-device inductive charging system seems feasible and would help Apple synthesize its range of fragmented charging methods, but it’s unclear how Apple would address the inevitable thermal, penetration, or efficiency issues it would cause.
The arrival of MagSafe charging on the honeiphone 12 demonstrates Apple’s interest in wireless charging solutions and the depth of the company’s research demonstrates the extent to which these systems are being considered. Despite this, patents can only serve as proof of what Apple is investigating. They do not necessarily indicate what the company can implement and the content of many patents never reaches final consumer products.