iPhone 6 Leak News, May Have Wireless Charging Dock, Evidence of Charging Port Can Be Seen in Photo
Apple's iPhone 6 could come with wireless charging capabilities, according to recently leaked photos that purportedly show a phone that was smuggled out of the Chinese factory that assembles the phone. The company has long held patents for technology that could send power wirelessly to the phone's battery, according to tech news sites.
The technology to send power wirelessly to an iPhone "has yet to make its way into a shipping product from Cupertino," the website Apple Insider wrote last year. It's possible there were so many other companies ready to offer wireless charging that Apple made sure their newest model cut the cord for juicing up the phone. But there's still no confirmation yet, as Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 6 in early September.
Website TMZ.com has managed to get a hold of photos they say show a wireless charging port on the phone. There are about seven photos in all, showing various angles of the phone, and show it in comparison with the iPhone 5s. The phone is reportedly much lighter than its predecesors. The cord-free charging port in question is a slender slot just to the left of the front-facing camera. "Apple filed a patent in 2012 for 'Wireless Power Utilization in a Local Computing Environment,' " the website wrote saying it was "essentially a central hub able to power a device without wires." The website said that technical people in the know are sure that the port on the front of the device is for wireless charging.
The phone in question was said to have been smuggled out of the Foxconn factory in China.
Wirelessly charging a cell phone is nothing new. Products such as AccessCase IPhone that comes with the Duracell Powermat is one of the more well-known wireless charging devices. The technology is even reportedly being used in Chevy vehicles.
The iQi Mobile charging device is another source of wireless charging and is used for Qualcomm, Sony and Nokia devices among others. It's probably the most often used wireless charging product. As Apple Insider stated last year: "Like Powermat, Qi stations are beginning to crop up at major airports...while national coffee chain The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf is adding Qi charging hotspots in stores," the website wrote. "Qi is also the technology used by Google and Samsung." That means the leaders in the cell phone market were already working with this technology closely, and that it was only a matter of time before Apple took a crack at how to better it. iPhone 6 fans will have to wait and see if it's true.