The Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) is currently working on a follow-up to the Qi wireless charging standard, and in a nice change, Apple is helping by sharing its MagSafe technology.
Apple is known to not always play nice to others as it seems to prefer total control over its surroundings rather than sharing it, much to its detriment displeasure of others. But now the tech giant willingly allows the WPC to use MagSafe as the basis of Qi2, as it’s called, to create a “global standard” for wireless charging.
According to the announcement (opens in new tab), the organization hopes to clear up any confusion about “which devices are Qi-certified and which ones claim to work with Qi but aren’t Qi-certified.” The WPC goes on to say that “this confusion can lead to poor user experience and even security issues.”
Formed guesses
At this point, the full capability of Qi2 is unknown. The standard is still a long way off, as smartphones and chargers that support it won’t hit the market until the 2023 holiday season.
However, the WPC reveals that at the heart of Qi2 is the Magnetic Power Profile, which is said to be “ensuring that phones or other rechargeable battery-powered mobile products are perfectly aligned with chargers”. As a result, users experience greater power efficiency and faster charging speeds. There’s also hope that wireless charging can be extended to devices like smartwatches that don’t work with typical flat-surface chargers.
Despite the lack of information currently available, we can still make some educated guesses. Considering the Qi2 uses MagSafe technology, it’s possible that upcoming chargers will use magnets to attach to smartphones, boast charging speeds of up to 15 watts, and feature foreign object detection. The latter is particularly important as MagSafe chargers can detect when a metallic object has been placed on the pad and automatically shut down. Otherwise the metal would heat up dangerously.
Other reports State that “each Qi2 transmitter requires authentication,” meaning future phones may only load with the default. We reached out to the WPC for clarification on device authentication as well as how the Magnetic Power Profile works and the other features of the standard. This story will be updated when we get feedback.
Be sure to check out TechRadar’s list of The best wireless chargers for 2023. Every one we mention is up to the current Qi standard, and you’ll find chargers that work with smaller devices like smartwatches.
