Once again, rumors call for 2017 iPhone users to shell out cash for wireless charging accessories

Rumors that the tenth anniversary iPhone, currently known as the Apple iPhone 8, will feature wireless charging have been around for some time. Actually, all three rumored 2017 iPhone models could be the first iOS powered handsets to offer this feature. So-called Apple expert John Gruber sent out a tweet last July indicating that the charging pads for the Apple iPhone 8, Apple iPhone 7s and Apple iPhone 7s Plus will be sold separately. 

The CEO of contract assembler Wriston, Robert Hwang, said earlier this year that wireless charging on the iPhone requires the new models to undergo different kinds of testing. It also requires Apple to use a glass back on the new phones instead of a metal one, because the latter can block the necessary magnetic signals that are required when using a wireless charger.

Images of components allegedly used with the wireless charging pad recently surfaced on Chinese micro-blogging site Weibo. According to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple will be using the standard belonging to the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC), which is the group that supports the Qi wireless charging platform. Kuo says that Apple will make wireless charging for the iPhone an optional feature requiring the purchase of accessories for the phone. Gruber not only concurs, he adds that wireless charging might not be enabled for the new iPhone models until an update to iOS 11.1 is disseminated.


source: MacRumors