Of the myriad changes Apple made to its iPhone line last year, one of the most intriguing was the addition of wireless charging. Though wireless charging has been employed by other phone makers for years, Apple finally jumped on the bandwagon in 2017, with its future phones expected to support the technology as well. Unfortunately, Apple’s wireless charging speeds didn’t stack up well against most Android devices, but that might change in 2018.
According to the China Times, Apple is considering replacing the ferrite polymer composite (FPC) of the charging coil of at least one of its new iPhone models with copper wire. In theory, copper coils will allow for faster and more efficient wireless charging, possibly bringing the iPhone up to par with its Android rivals.
The iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus support wireless charging speeds of up to 7.5W, while Qi charging (which is the common standard in the industry) supports 15W charging. As AppleInsider notes, FPC coils are used by Apple at least in part because they’re thinner than copper coils, which means Apple might have to (slightly) increase the thickness of the iPhone X sequel in order to include the new coil. This seems unlikely.
This could also potentially explain the delay of the AirPower, which was originally announced alongside the iPhone X last fall. If Apple is going to support 15W charging in any of its new phones, it would be unorthodox for the company’s premium multi-device charger to launch without the ability to charge them at full speed.
Apple is expected to announce three new iPhone models next month, including a 6.5-inch iPhone X Plus, 5.8-inch iPhone X sequel, and 6.1-inch model with an LCD display. Carrier sources suggest that preorders for the new phones will begin on Friday, September 14th, which would put the release date on September 21st.
