Mingis on Tech: Wireless charging update

With Apple embracing the Qi standard in its iPhone X and 8/8+, wireless charging is becoming more mainstream. So what about the debate it'll kill your battery?

Credit: Computerworld

Wireless charging – if it's not there already – is likely coming to a smartphone near you.

And your next car.

Probably your next office desk.

And, if a few technological kinks can be worked out, perhaps even to the very office you're sitting in.

Now that Apple has embraced the Qi specification – the iPhone 8/8+ and iPhone X rely on it for wireless charging – the industry is beginning to coalesce around a path forward. Hence, the growing number of inexpensive wireless chargers you can buy now, many of them for less than $20.

With that backdrop, Computerworld Executive Editor Ken Mingis turned to senior reporter Lucas Mearian for an update on where things stand. Of particular interest: the ongoing debate about whether wireless charging, while undoubtedly convenient, can harm battery life or reduce the number of charge cycles a device has in it.

(That last issue bubbled up when ZDNet's Adrian Kingsley-Hughes wrote about his decision to eschew wireless charging, which he argued had reduced the battery lifespan in his iPhone X.)

For the audio-only version, click play (or catch up on all earlier episodes) below. Or you can find us on iTunes or Pocket Casts, where you can download each episode and listen at your leisure.

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