Apple files patent for Wi-Fi charging

Tired of charging your iPhone with cords and chargers? Apple is likely working on an idea that may completely eliminate the need for physical charging devices.

In future, charging your iPhone could be as seamless as getting in the range of a Wi-Fi signal.

The iPhone-maker recently filed a patent application, which entails that a method to harness wireless signals emitted by routers to charge electronic devices. The system described in the filing, which was first reported by AppleInsider, would bank on the same frequencies used to transfer data through the air to give phones a constant source of power.

The patent application, called "Wireless Charging and Communications Systems With Dual-Frequency Patch Antennas" and filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office, was made public on Thursday.

This technique requires two additions to be workable: transmitter and receiver. The design calls for routers with specialised antennae and circuitry systems that could boost the wireless signal with more output power, which would then be harnessed by a receiver in the iPhone and converted to more juice for the battery.

While it looks like a promising way to effortlessly charge the iPhone and could also reduce the number of gadget in a household, the idea has been researched on earlier as well and is not a new one.

Nevertheless, it may mean that the tech giant's AirPort router isn’t dead after all.

At the start of this week, allegedly leaked 'iPhone 8' design seemed to show a "large wireless charging pad to be positioned in the handset's rear casing, [which] resembles a patch antenna similar to applications described in today's patent filing", the publication said.