Apple Supplier: Next iPhone Will Have Wireless Charging

This has been a long time coming. The next frontier of consumer power requirements is cordless, and Apple manufacturer Wistron has leaked the news we’ve all been waiting for – the next iPhone will have wireless charging.

Let’s get one thing out of the way – Apple guards its secrets tighter than the Pentagon, so this could be less a “leak” and more of a coordinated PR assault. But that’s just speculation.

That said, all the evidence is (seemingly) there – a few days ago, Redditors leaked images of the iPhone 8’s purported design, including glass back panels that allow for wireless charging. And Apple just joined the Wireless Power Consortium in February as a board member. So there’s that.

According to ZDNet, Zistron CEO Robert Hwang let a few details slip at their shareholder meeting:

"Assembly process for the previous generations of [iPhones] have not changed much, though new features like waterproof and wireless charging now require some different testing, and waterproof function will alter the assembly process a bit," he said.

Harmless future-proofing or slip of the tongue?

Wireless charging is nothing new – Android already adopted the tech, and several third-party vendors (including PowerMat) have experimented with wonky charging cases and conductive pads. But we’ve all anxiously waited for Apple to join the fray, if not for the PR, alone.

As an iPhone junkie, myself, I’d love to “cut the cord,” and banish charging cables to the land of cathode ray tubes and Smell-O-Vision.