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What Finally Killed AirPower

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Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#51

Post by saagarjha »

wickedsmile wrote: post #18
brian-armstrong wrote: post #11

So my phone is charged by a cable. It plugs into the wall on one side and then plugs into my phone on the other. This system works great - I plug my phone in when I go to bed and unplug it when I wake up. The cable is long enough to plug into my phone even if I want to use it in bed. It's easy, cheap and failproof. What is the draw of wireless charging? What is it that I'm missing? Did anyone ask for this?

Charging phone when you are off to bed is really very bad. Lithium charging protection circuit could fail anytime due to one of the components in the circuit malfunctioning and your lithium battery inside the phone can catch fire. Many houses have been burned down to ashes from lithium fire. Just YouTube for 'lithium fire' and you'll see how dangerous it can be. I usually charge the phone in an empty place where lith…

That’s why Apple invests in quality control to prevent this from occurring.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#52

Post by JonathonW »

brian-armstrong wrote: post #11

So my phone is charged by a cable. It plugs into the wall on one side and then plugs into my phone on the other. This system works great - I plug my phone in when I go to bed and unplug it when I wake up. The cable is long enough to plug into my phone even if I want to use it in bed. It's easy, cheap and failproof. What is the draw of wireless charging? What is it that I'm missing? Did anyone ask for this?

Wireless charging’s nice to have at home— it’s pretty convenient to just be able to throw my phone on the charger at night and have it charged in the morning, without having to mess with a cable.

The real killer app for me, though, is wireless charging in the car. I’ve got a Qi charger built into my car (and Qi phone mounts are readily available as retrofits for cars that don’t) and it’s really handy (and likely safer) to be able to just throw my phone in the pad if I realize it’s low while driving rather than having to fumble around with a cable.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#53

Post by _bxg1 »

brian-armstrong wrote: post #11

So my phone is charged by a cable. It plugs into the wall on one side and then plugs into my phone on the other. This system works great - I plug my phone in when I go to bed and unplug it when I wake up. The cable is long enough to plug into my phone even if I want to use it in bed. It's easy, cheap and failproof. What is the draw of wireless charging? What is it that I'm missing? Did anyone ask for this?

It takes something easy and makes it effortless. Like AirPods, this has a surprising number of implications that you really don't think about until you try it.

If I'm just setting my phone down on my desk and it's at 50%, and my cable is right there, I may not bother to plug it in. Especially if I might get up again in 5 or 10 minutes. But if I can just set it down in a particular place and regain a couple percentage points, and I do this twenty times a day, it adds up.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#54

Post by torstenvl »

whynotminot wrote: post #32
brian-armstrong wrote: post #11

So my phone is charged by a cable. It plugs into the wall on one side and then plugs into my phone on the other. This system works great - I plug my phone in when I go to bed and unplug it when I wake up. The cable is long enough to plug into my phone even if I want to use it in bed. It's easy, cheap and failproof. What is the draw of wireless charging? What is it that I'm missing? Did anyone ask for this?

I think the real point is the eventual removal of the port altogether. If you can sync your phone over Wifi, stream to audio over Bluetooth, and reliably and quickly charge wirelessly, then you can remove the port altogether allowing for thinner, more robust, more water resistant designs. It's probably also cheaper to boot. That's the wireless future that I imagine Apple was/maybe still is imagining.

That would require sync over WiFi to actually work. Reliably.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#55

Post by themagician »

brian-armstrong wrote: post #11

So my phone is charged by a cable. It plugs into the wall on one side and then plugs into my phone on the other. This system works great - I plug my phone in when I go to bed and unplug it when I wake up. The cable is long enough to plug into my phone even if I want to use it in bed. It's easy, cheap and failproof. What is the draw of wireless charging? What is it that I'm missing? Did anyone ask for this?

I’ve never understood it either.

I have four of these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01K702S66/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_z8UN... with little 2-inch micro USB and Lightning cables. I keep they in different sockets around the house. When I want to charge something I just pick it up and plug it in and fold the battery around the back. I can hold it in my hand or set it down on a desk. More wireless than wireless.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#56

Post by cannonedhamster »

brian-armstrong wrote: post #47
whynotminot wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the real point is the eventual removal of the port altogether. If you can sync your phone over Wifi, stream to audio over Bluetooth, and reliably and quickly charge wirelessly, then you can remove the port altogether allowing for thinner, more robust, more water resistant designs. It's probably also cheaper to boot. That's the wireless future that I imagine Apple was/maybe still is imagining.

My phone still has a headphone jack, so removing 1 port still leaves me with 1.

Well so does mine since it was an important feature to me. This conversation is about Apple products though, and they decided to make a convoluted reason to try and prop up their Airpods and Beats headphones to be "courageous". Samsung almost has the problem solved by wireless charging of devices from the phone, however I'm not sure about the long term ramifications of sending electrical signals directly at devices plugged into your ears. Apple Airpods remind me of that scene about hair gel from "Something About Mary" and are basically meant to be thrown away after a few years of use. Meanwhile I've had the same headphones with different earbuds for literally over 5 years. When there are two USB C chargers I might consider dropping the headphone jack.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#57

Post by lightedman »

ThatPlayer wrote: post #14
brian-armstrong wrote: post #11

So my phone is charged by a cable. It plugs into the wall on one side and then plugs into my phone on the other. This system works great - I plug my phone in when I go to bed and unplug it when I wake up. The cable is long enough to plug into my phone even if I want to use it in bed. It's easy, cheap and failproof. What is the draw of wireless charging? What is it that I'm missing? Did anyone ask for this?

Convenience. I keep one on my desk. Everytime I sit down, I place my phone down on my charger pad, because that's where it goes. The 1 less step of having to hunt for a cable and plug it in makes it second nature to have my phone always charging or fully charged. Similarly in cars that have wireless charging nowadays, there's a tray of some sort to put it in. Rather than charging when I need to, wireless charging mak…

"Everytime I sit down, I place my phone down on my charger pad, because that's where it goes."

I hope you enjoy destroying your battery prematurely, because constant charging cycles wears it out rapidly. Lithium chemistry hates that kind of treatment.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#58

Post by natecavanaugh »

KingMachiavelli wrote: post #38
sp332 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can slap my phone down on the charger next to my bed in the dark. I can grab my phone off the charger on my desk at work with one hand. Before wireless charging, it wasn't much hassle, and I only rarely had trouble with my phone battery dying. Now it's almost no hassle, and I never have trouble with my battery dying. It's just a nice quality-of-life boost.

This made a lot (more) sense when even corded charging was kind of slow and meant that the use time to charge time was pretty bad; ~2 hours to charge: ~12 hours to use gives an optimistic 6 use/charge time ratio, but now that fast charging and USB-C power deliver devices can charge in ~30 minutes and last ~20 hours that gives a use/charge ratio of 40. Given that if I have to leave my phone on a wireless charger for m…

I have to agree. A dock or pad with a cable or two and an inductive charging mat would be ideal. I like my setup, but it'd be much easier to remember to charge my AirPods if I could just place them on a pad, or just casually laying my phone down, and still getting a charge, but having the option of a cable for the fast charge and being able to charge and use simultaneously.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#59

Post by markdown »

zaphirplane wrote: post #39
sp332 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can slap my phone down on the charger next to my bed in the dark. I can grab my phone off the charger on my desk at work with one hand. Before wireless charging, it wasn't much hassle, and I only rarely had trouble with my phone battery dying. Now it's almost no hassle, and I never have trouble with my battery dying. It's just a nice quality-of-life boost.

Constantly recharging your phone is suppose to reduce your battery’s max capacity over time I.e your battery lasts less

I don't believe this is true of modern Li-ion batteries.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#60

Post by gwbas1c »

brian-armstrong wrote: post #11

So my phone is charged by a cable. It plugs into the wall on one side and then plugs into my phone on the other. This system works great - I plug my phone in when I go to bed and unplug it when I wake up. The cable is long enough to plug into my phone even if I want to use it in bed. It's easy, cheap and failproof. What is the draw of wireless charging? What is it that I'm missing? Did anyone ask for this?

I replaced my last phone because the port wore out, and sometimes I'd wake up with a low battery.

Nice to know my port gets less wear!

(Also, both iPhone and Android support Qi. Don't need to play the different cable game.)

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