This fall’s iPhone 8 will definitely include wireless charging support, according to Apple manufacturing partner Wistron. Company CEO Robert Hwang spilled the beans to reporters this week.
Taiwan-based Wistron builds the iPhone SE and iPhone 6 in India, and Hwang implied this year’s iPhone refresh will be on their production lines, too. If so, he’d be in a good place to know what features the iPhone 8 will have.
Hwang said,
Assembly process for the previous generations of [iPhones] have not changed much, though new features like waterproof and wireless charging now require some different testing, and waterproof function will alter the assembly process a bit.
This won’t be the first iPhone to keep the water out. Both the iPhone 7 and iPhone 6s offer some level of water repellency, so it’s no surprise to see that as an iPhone 8 feature, too. Wireless charging, however, has been limited to rumor and speculation.
iPhone 8 Wireless charging will require users to set their phone on a charging pad to juice up the battery. Presumably users will still be able to use a Lightning cable to charge, too.
iPhone 8 and Wireless Charging
Late last year KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the iPhone 8 will sport wireless charging. Earlier this year The Mac Observer noted Apple would likely use inductive charging technology for the iPhone 8 instead of near field charging.
Inductive charging includes a pad the iPhone sits on to charge, where near field requires the phone be in range of a special transmitter. Charging your phone by simply walking in a room sounds great, but the current near field solutions don’t output enough power to be practical for this use.
In April, Powermat CEO Elad Dubzinski mistakenly said Apple announced wireless charging for the iPhone 8. Apple hasn’t made any such announcement, nor has it confirmed the iPhone 8 is an actual product.
Assuming Hwang really did just confirm an actual iPhone 8 feature, Apple’s executive team is no doubt very unhappy. It’s a safe bet there’s already been a closed door meeting where Hwang has heard in no uncertain terms exactly how Apple feels about leaks.
[Thanks to Nikkei Asian Review for the heads up]