An Apple patent application details their development of inductive charging. Basically put inductive charging is wireless charging, although at current rates device charge slowly. The patent application filed was termed “Inductive power transfer using acoustic or haptic devices”.

This technology plans to utilize coils already present in your devices to facilitate wireless charging. A dedicated charging source is needed, but no additional hardware is required to be attached to existing technology. This patent has excited users over the possibility of seeing fully operational Apple inductive charging by next year!

No need to change existing hardware

Apple’s patent elaborates on acoustic coils, already present in your speaker and microphone, which will receive a wireless charge. Another technology already in place in certain devices is Apple’s Taptic Engine. This allows your device to sense movement, bumps, tap pressure and even your heartbeat. The only drawback to using existing coils to facilitate charging is the fact that they are very small, and this would result in an extremely low charging rate for devices using larger batteries.

Apple also proposes a docking station that is set to integrate with all existing products. The two only devices in the pipeline known to benefit from Apple inductive charging is the Apple Watch and the distant, possible Apple iRing.

Charge Multiple Device

The patent for Apple inductive charging is the most advanced example of inductive charging and shows a device capable of, for the first time, charging multiple devices without the need of any physical, cabled connection to a power source. The charging of multiple devices is made possible by tessellated triangular coils present in the charging unit. Complex arrangements of electromagnetic current is now possible using these coils, as each coil can operate independently and as part of a large system, simultaneously.

This unique system of electromagnetic charging is likely to still undergo a lot of research and development, but signs are good that we will soon see wireless charging in everyday use.