2018’s New iPhones Might Receive a Major Wireless Charging Boost
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Apple may boost the wireless charging capabilities for its 2018 stable of iPhones, in addition to a slew of other upgrades.
In a research note distributed this week, Zhang said the end goal would be to “support more applications, provide a quicker recharge, and better compete with Android OEMs.”
The 2017 lineup of iPhones was the first to support Qi standard wireless charging. At launch, that charging capability was rather slow — clocking in at around the same speed as the standard 5W power brick packaged with devices.
In early December 2017, Apple gave a slight bump to that wireless charging speed with a software update.
iOS 11.2 let the iPhone 8, 8 Plus and X take advantage of 7.5W fast wireless charging.
Apple’s upcoming handsets could feature wireless charging that’s even faster, Zhang predicted. Rosenblatt Securities analyst Jun Zhang believes that Apple could upgrade the charging circuitry in new iPhones from 5V 2A to 9V 2A and 5V 3A.
For context, 9V at 2A translates to 18W and 5V at 3A converts to 15W.
Apple may upgrade iPhone’s wireless charging by simplifying its supplier lineup. Zhang says Apple could use Power Integrations as the lone supply partner for wireless charging chips, after it fixed a quality control issue. That could see Apple dropping ON Semiconductor and NXP Semiconductors as supply partners for new iPhones.
Interestingly, Zhang also believes that Apple could switch suppliers for the charging hardware on its 6.1-inch LCD iPhone. The move, swapping Broadcom with Texas Instruments, may help to further reduce the overall cost of the mid-range device.
As far as financial predictions, Zhang forecasts that iPhone production will grow on a year-over-year basis in the second half of 2018. Apple could produce as many as 100 million units and ship 85 million.
The analyst believes that the lower-priced LCD iPhone could make up the bulk of production, corroborating previous reports.
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[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]
