This week on AI: Wireless charging for 'iPhone 8,' AirPods due date & more

Wireless charging is the biggest gimmick and a feature I could care less about. 

As a person that has been buying Apple products for nearly 25 years I have to say that I am not so thrilled with changing device due to port and cable "improvements" every few years. The speed bumps they promise are at a point where it is not distinguishable  outside of a testing laboratory and really show no real word benefits. It all just pisses people off and complicates using peripherals and adds yet another cost to using your devices.

Wireless charging means unless I'm wrong carrying around another gadget in the way of a charger with a surface area the size of the Apple Watch white doughnut instead of a thin cable? That is not progress, that is "look mom no hands". 

I would like to see the next iteration of Touch Bar be deeper, where it would replace not only the row of function keys, but also the row of number keys plus 1/2" of the (enlarged) touchpad.  So, maybe 2.5" deep.  Number keys are not used as often as letter keys, and we seldom rest our fingers on them.  So their physical presence is less of an issue and after getting used to it we could function just as well with virtual keys. Taptic feedback could partly make up for the loss of physical number keys, too.  Finally, the ongoing implementation of Siri-voice inputs reduces the emphasis on keyboard inputs in general.<br><br>

With a larger pallet to work with, the Touch Bar metaphor could incorporate a wider range of on-screen activities, including pinches and scrolls, on-screen menus and forms, Pencil writing, photo mark-ups, and piano key playing.  <br><br>

We may have 13" and 15" computer screens, but most of the time our eyes focus on a far smaller area -- maybe as little as 1" to 3" across. Touch Bar can potentially display that entire "action area" and put it within easy reach of the keyboard home base, while switching automatically to number and function keys when circumstances call for them.  Touch Bar is not just a touchscreen: Touch Bar is an AI-touchscreen. 

tyler82 said:

Wireless charging is the biggest gimmick and a feature I could care less about. 

It may seem like a gimmick but its one step closer to Apple not having any connections on its iPhone like it or not. I can see them getting rid of lightning down the road in its iOS devices. Charging is really the only sticking point to getting rid of the lightning connector. Everything else can go wireless. Its already eliminated the headphone port, and the lightning port is next to go. It may not be in 2017, but I wouldn't hold my breath to it sticking around any longer than that. 

Apple just needs to get wireless charging working properly without making the phone explode...

I feels like so many of these developments are pushing us to a future in which you will have to pay Apple a monthly fee for iCloud. You won't be able to download your photos to your hard drive without running them through iCloud first. Etc.