New Qi2 standard set to improve wireless charging, with a bit of help from Apple
>
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 lending a hand by sharing its MagSafe technology.
Apple is known to not always be nice with others, as it seems to prefer full control over its environment and not share, much to Apple’s chagrin. annoyance of others. But now the tech giant is happy to allow 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 those that claim to work with Qi but are not Qi certified.” The WPC continues that “this confusion can lead to a poor user experience and even security issues.”
Educated guesses
At the moment, the full capacity of Qi2 is unknown. The standard is still a long way off, as smartphones and chargers that support it won’t launch until the 2023 holiday season.
However, the WPC does reveal that the core of Qi2 is the Magnetic Power Profile, which it claims “ensures that phones or other rechargeable battery-powered mobile products are perfectly matched to charging devices.” As a result, users will experience higher energy efficiency and faster charging speeds. There’s also hope that wireless charging can be extended to devices, such as smartwatches, that don’t work on typical flat chargers.
Despite the lack of information currently available, we can make some educated guesses. Since Qi2 uses MagSafe technology, it’s possible that upcoming chargers will use magnets to snap onto smartphones, have charging speeds of up to 15 watts, and come with foreign object detection. The latter is especially important as it allows MagSafe chargers to detect if a metal object has been placed on the pad and shut off automatically. If not, the metal would become dangerously hot.
Other reports it says “every Qi2 transmitter needs authentication”, which means that future phones can only be charged with the standard. We’ve reached out to the WPC for clarification on device authentication, how Magnetic Power Profile will work, and the other features of the standard. This story will be updated if we hear anything.
Be sure to check out TechRadar’s list of the best wireless chargers for 2023. Each one we mention is up to the current Qi standard, and there are chargers that work with smaller devices like smartwatches.