[UPDATE: Apple statement below the fold.]
Long-running rumors that Apple will add wireless charging to the iPhone 8 have been lent additional weight with the news that the company has joined an industry group devoted to wireless power.
Apple is now listed as one of the 213 members of the Wireless Power Consortium. It was not present in a cached version of the page from a week ago …
While early rumors suggested that Apple was holding out for long-range charging, without the need to place the iPhone on a charging pad, those hopes appear to have been dashed by more recent reports. These suggest that Apple will, like other manufacturers, use simple inductive charging.
One of those reports even indicated that Apple will not include a charger in the box with the iPhone, instead offering it as an optional accessory at extra cost.
While Apple may indeed have been aiming for long-range RF charging, IHS Technology analyst Vicky Yussuff says that the company couldn’t wait any longer.
While the consortium promotes the use of a single standard for wireless charging, known as Qi, that doesn’t mean that Apple will fully support the protocol. Apple already uses Qi charging for the Watch, but as The Register noted back in 2015, it uses a tweaked version that means you can’t use other Qi chargers. It seems likely it will do the same with the iPhone.
If you want wireless charging with your existing iPhone, there are solutions available already in the form of wireless charging cases and stick-on receivers. One crowdfunded one also brings back the 3.5mm headphone socket.
Apple provided BI with this boilerplate statement:
Catch all the iPhone 8 news and rumors in our constantly updated guide.
