What Finally Killed AirPower • Hacker News Board

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#231

Post by whynotminot » Sat, Mar 30, 2019, 2:27 PM UTC

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.

We're not talking about your phone, Brian. Keep up.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#232

Post by maxxxxx » Sat, Mar 30, 2019, 2:29 PM UTC

sbhn wrote: post #140

I first discovered air charging many years ago. I was in the office, and outside wad a digger working on the road, and its engine noise was causing the walls to vibrate. I thought, i could put some kind of capicitor on the wall positioned to exploit the vibration, and charge my phone with that. Brilliant i thought. I got to work immediatly on the invention. And then realised that running a noisy tractor outside every…

Look at some Rube Goldberg machines. You probably can replace the tractor with a few cows and a hamster. This makes less noise.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#233

Post by rb666 » Sat, Mar 30, 2019, 2:41 PM UTC

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 love it for nightly charging. I can still easily grab my phone (for those mid-night ideas) while half asleep and not having to fiddle with a cable. Then plop it back down and go back to snoring.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#234

Post by joshe » Sat, Mar 30, 2019, 2:55 PM UTC

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?

One factor is expansion into multiple devices. Right now that's Apple watch, AirPods, and iPhone. Maybe a few more future ones like beats isolating headphones (existing product that doesn't charge wirelessly), a keychain dingus, augmented reality glasses, chest strap sleep monitor, or a bike computer.

Apple would very much like to sell you more hardware every year. They are very well equipped to innovate here.

Pile all your gadgets on this mat is much easier than plug 3 things in every night. In the non tech world, people don't baby their gadgets. I know of a few non tech friends who just leave the apple watch at home if they forget to charge it (instead of hauling the charger to work). Do that enough and you start to wonder why you bought the Apple Watch and then you wonder if you should really buy the next one.

There are also lots of form factors where the space saving is key to product success. Apple Watch is the current one. But in the future... AR glasses look dorky if there's anything bigger than about 5mm cubed on them. A sleep monitoring headband or chest strap would be much better being very low profile. (You might put your apple watch on the nightstand and put on the chest strap every night.)

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#235

Post by xondono » Sat, Mar 30, 2019, 2:57 PM UTC

rabidvermin wrote: post #211

coredog64 wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do this too, so don’t take this as criticism. Isn’t this bad for the battery? ISTR you want to keep the battery between 20 and 80 percent. More than that and it winds up heating up the battery during charge. Or is that just for electric cars?

That was the case, I think, with old NiCd batteries, but with lithium ion batteries, you maximize battery longevity by keeping it mostly charged, I read recently.

Not really, that’s still the sweetspot for most lithium batteries as well (being under 20% is much more critical than being over 80% though).

What’s different between them is battery memory effect. With NiCd & NiMH you are supposed to let it discharge until 20%, then continuously charge up, and then repeat.

With Lithium based batteries it’s a recommended practice to charge in short bursts and keep the battery at a medium level.

In any case, most devices now a days will manage the battery in ways that you should not really bother. It’s amazing the conplexity that battery systems have nowadays.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#236

Post by zaphar » Sat, Mar 30, 2019, 3:17 PM UTC

arvinsim wrote: post #179

lugg wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your buying Apple. Price as an argument is long gone. This whole thread is really asinine. Wireless charging is a seamless, elegant solution to a problem. It is not the only solution. It is not a perfect solution. It is not the cheapest solution. It is not the most cost effective solution. It is likely not the best solution for your battery life. Docks and wires are not an elegant solution. That's all the argument is…

You need to take your own advice. Cables were never old, painful nor requires thought. I see the cable, I plug. Your side is just that, an opinion.

I can see one significant improvement for the wireless mats. The number one part of my phone to fail first has always been the charging port. The mat reduced the wear and tear on that port which could extend the life of my phone.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#237

Post by james-skemp » Sat, Mar 30, 2019, 3:22 PM UTC

rzzzt wrote: post #201

arvinsim wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You need to take your own advice. Cables were never old, painful nor requires thought. I see the cable, I plug. Your side is just that, an opinion.

MagSafe was in the sweet spot IMO. Doesn't require too much alignment, symmetrical pinout, disconnects quickly and safely, low mechanical wear from use.

I've taken to buying magnetic USB cables for this reason. Plug a connector into the bottom of phone/tablet, put a cable at work, in car, and next to the bed, and it's super easy to connect and disconnect, with no worry that the Micro-B connection is getting bent (with cats and a child we've gone through way more USB Micro-B cables than I would have expected).

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#238

Post by mcguire » Sat, Mar 30, 2019, 3:28 PM UTC

oe wrote: post #184

NeedMoreTea wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All of which is covered by having a dock as the act of picking it up breaks connection. With the added advantage they were cheaper than wireless, and unlike AirPower actually available.

I had a dock and replaced it with wireless charger as soon as they were available. The ease of just placing your phone on a surface vs. lining up your phone with the dock is well worth it.

You mean lining it up precisely on the surface?

That's why I stopped using a wireless charger.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#239

Post by wizzard » Sat, Mar 30, 2019, 3:37 PM UTC

magnetic wrote: post #48

wizzard wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was of the same opinion until I got a charging pad from Costco for Christmas. I decided to try it out to be polite, and was surprised at how much I like it. I don't have to fish for the cable, I don't have to try to plug it into the speakers a few times in the dark before finding the right port, and if I want to pick up my phone to check something really quick I can just do it without unplugging or having to hover…

Could you please tell what SKU/product it was?

Sure, it is the Ubiolabs Wireless Charging Pad, Model AWC1018. I have an iPhone XR and it works great.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#240

Post by jefftk » Sat, Mar 30, 2019, 3:43 PM UTC

coldtea wrote: post #199

AznHisoka wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to live life at the edge and only charge my phone at 1%. Then a relative had a medical emergency and I had to stay at the hospital for hours, and my phone lost power so i couldnt call anyone. Now I always try to keep it fully charged. So no this is definitely not OCD.

You only did it after a medical emergency. If the drive to do it was innate without any "hard lesson" required, it would be OCD. Compared to tons of people who couldn't care less on living on 70% or 50% or 20%.

Learning from other people's mistakes is OCD?