With the new system that Apple has patented, charging the phone will be as simple as having Wi-Fi on.
According to rumors, the next iPhone is expected to include the wireless charging standard. We have been hearing it for many months and it is something that is almost confirmed already. The novelty, now, is that Apple has filed a patent for a wireless charging device via Wi-Fi.
Today’s wireless charging is known as short-range wireless charging. That is, the, the mobile phone and the charging device must be in contact for them to work. This is because it uses induction. The induction is characterized by two coils, one receiving and the other emitting, where a magnetic field is generated, which is what is capable of charging the device.
The patent, filed in October 2015, is called wireless charging and communication systems with dual-frequency patch antennas. At the moment it is most likely that we will not see this technology for many years. Furthermore, it is not even certain that we will see it someday. It is just a patent that Apple has registered to keep the idea safe and that others cannot use it.
It could take years to get to the iPhone
Specific allow you to charge the phone using radio waves, both by telephone (from 700 MHz to 2,700 MHz), using a millimeter range (from 10 GHz to 400 GHz) or even by Wi-Fi (from 10 GHz to 400 GHz. The beamforming (beamforming), which is nothing more than the emission / reception of discretionary signals. In this way it will recognize if the iPhone is available, and if so, focus the radio wave signal to it with a certain phase (frequency).
However, Chances are that if one day it ends up being implemented, it will end up using WiGig802.11ad (operating at 60 GHz), which is the fastest Wi-Fi protocol so far, so there would be no point in using a lower one.
Of course any phone will not be compatible with this charging system, but just as with short-range wireless charging, we need a receiver. That is, the Wi-Fi antenna is not enough to be able to charge the phone using this system.
This is not the first time that Apple has used beamforming to make directional use of Wi-Fi signal.. Specifically, it has an intelligent router (AirPort) that is capable of identifying connected devices to focus the signal on them.