2019 iPhone will charge AirPods Wireless Charging case, have larger battery

A new supply chain report from Ming-Chi Kuo declares that the 2019 iPhone lineup will boast two-way wireless charging, and has gone so far to name Apple's suppliers for the technology.

In Monday's report seen by AppleInsider, Ming-Chi Kuo talks about wireless charging, but this time, is naming names. New suppliers named for the bi-directional Qi charging said to be coming to the 2019 iPhone are Luxshare, an existing supplier, and Sunway — a new entrant to Apple's supply lines for wireless charging.

STMicro is said to be on tap for the controlling circuitry, with a companion chip intended to boost charging efficiency provided by TI.

The batteries are said to grow by as much as 25 percent in the iPhone XS-sized model, with a similar power increase but lower volumetric increase of up to 15 percent for the iPhone XR. The extra volume is provided mostly by a new OLED screen laminate, with fewer needed layers than the existing models.

The iPhone XR replacement isn't expected to see a large battery size increase, growing by between 0 percent and 5 percent.

On February 17, Kuo predicted that the 2019 iPhone would be able to wirelessly charge other devices. Other technologies predicted are an ultra-wide band for indoor position location, and a triple-lens camera.

The analyst maintains that all 2019 iPhone models will retain a Lightning connector rather than adopt USB-C, as the iPad Pro range has. Also expected to BE retained are Apple's TrueDepth camera and an associated display notch.

TrueDepth may see an update with a higher-power flood illuminator for better Face ID recognition, Kuo said, while a new 6.1-inch LCD model might be upgraded to incorporate 4GB of RAM, up from the current 3GB in the iPhone XR.

Kuo has still not made remarks confirming a previous rumor that suggested iPhones will be getting a laser for rear-facing depth mapping. That could aid not just in photography but in augmented reality, though its effective range may be just 15 feet.

Rumors from the summer of 2018 about the 2019 iPhone suggested that the iPhone would shift to USB-C in 2019. USB-C on the iPhone in 2019 would shift all of Apple's mainline devices to the technology, allowing for one cable to be used across the entire lineup for data and charging, but would spark complaints about accessory incompatibility, like it did when Apple shifted from the 30-pin connector to Lightning in 2012.

Apple will most likely announce 2019 iPhones at a September press event, and ship them shortly after.

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23 Comments

deegee1948 26 comments · 8 Years

About 5 years ago

Another reason to cancel AirPower—sell the new iPhones instead! It’ll do the job!

racerhomie3 1264 comments · 7 Years

Wow, if the iPhone can charge both the Apple Watch & airpods that would make it a wireless charger killer.

tht 5594 comments · 23 Years

The batteries are said to grow by as much as 25 percent in the iPhone XS-sized model, with a similar power increase but lower volumetric increase of up to 15 percent for the iPhone XR. The extra volume is provided mostly by a new OLED screen laminate, with fewer needed layers than the existing models.

The iPhone XR replacement isn't expected to see a large battery size increase, growing by between 0 percent and 5 percent.The sentence construction here is confusing.

The 2019 XS successor will have the same dimensions, same display size, but will have 25% more battery capacity, about 3300 mAHr or 13 WHr? Primarily because the OLED panels will be thinner.

The 2019 XR successor will have the same dimensions, same display size, but will have less than 5% more battery capacity. Likely because the LCD panel will be the same as the 2019 model, even though you say “with a similar power increase but lower volumetric increase of up to 15 percent for the iPhone XR”. The way it reads is that the XR will have 25% larger battery, but it’s interl volume for the battery is only going up 15%, but in the end, the actual battery capacity for the XR won’t be changing at all. 5% is nothing to write home about.

All the X models could be thinner, so hopefully this means the XR successor will be thinner. I can see however, Apple wanting the XS model to have the same or better battery life than the XR so that the cheaper model doesn’t have the feature advantage of better battery runtime.

The inductive-out battery charging sounds like a pretty minor feature to me. I’ve never had a desire to charge my AirPods case. I want more AirPods runtime, but charging the case? No. If AirPods could last say 6 to 8 hours, or 5 to 7 hours after a couple of years, that’s a really good sweet spot.

Appleish 714 comments · 8 Years

Didn't Ming-Chi Kuo say a couple of weeks ago that AirPower was imminent?

jbdragon 2312 comments · 10 Years

I think this is a dumb gimmick and just copying Samesung!!! I've always been for Apple just making these iPhones a little thicker so there would be no need for a camera bump, which in turn gives a little more space for more battery. Because I think a larger percentage of iPhone users would like a larger battery. Apple makes the iPhone a little more energy efficient. You think great, the iPhone will last longer, but no, Apple at the same time just shrinks the battery right along with it even more so. In the end, just making Apple a even larger profit. I don't see much need for the iPhone to wireless charge Airpods. I think it's a feature few would even use.