Wireless charging for a hassle-free living
Smartphone manufacturers begin cutting down charger supply on their new products. In a recent WWDC virtual event, Apple has announced that they were no longer included chargers in the box for the newest iPhone 12. This statement was made the crowd buzzing, as same as the time Apple removed the headphone jack four years ago. The decision is made under a reason for a better environmental purpose. Tim Cook stated that they were trying to reduce the amount of carbon pollution and waste made from just the charger manufacturing itself. They also encourage the fans to use their wireless charging feature that already built-in.
In just a few months later, Xiaomi announced that they would also simplify the package of MI 11 without chargers included in the box. According to The Verge, Lei Jun, the CEO of Xiaomi, already stated the removal of chargers package for their newest products. He explained it on local-Chinese social media Weibo. The reason was inline with Apple’s statement to reduce waste for better environmental purposes. Followed by Samsung, their next Galaxy S21 line-up will also come without any chargers included. Xiaomi and Samsung seem to follow the decision Apple has made. Once again, Apple established a new trend for mobile devices.
The rise of wireless charging
Since decades ago, wireless charging has existed, as Nikola Tesla invented electromagnetic resonance that can hover in the air. But in practice, there are just a few technologies that used the wireless charging method. Until comes the smartphone era from 2011-nowadays. Wireless charging has become an attention seeker even today. Almost every smartphone manufacturers implemented the wireless charging feature on their latest devices. Allow their consumers to experience a more hassle-free living without the cable attached to their devices.
Wireless charging utilizes the electromagnetic connection that hovers in the air. It is usually transferred from the charging pad that had inducted the electromagnetic that resonant to the receiver. It had an attached magnet that sticks the device to the pad while charging. Allows the electromagnetic to be transferred faster. The latest smartphone devices with wireless charging feature commonly coated with glass materials like Gorilla Glass. It delivers electricity better and makes the device charge faster.
Wireless features increasingly get noticed after Apple removed the 3,5mm headphone jack from the iPhone 7 back in 2016. They introduced the AirPods of being sold separately. Samsung also gives its S Galaxy series the capability of wireless charging at that time. For now, wireless things are more acceptable by the consumers as the technology is improvised and simplified to ease daily activities.
Can wireless charging replace cables forever?
There are several reasons why we should move from the conventional cable that is always attached to almost all electronic devices. With the rise of wireless features, can it replace the cable in the future?
E-waste
The number of smartphone users worldwide is increased every year. Statista.com surveyed that it has been increased from 1,6 Billion in 2012 to 3,8 Billion users in 2020. With China, India, and the United States as the highest smartphone user countries. There also, 52% of the world population are literate about mobile internet usage. This huge amount of smartphone users can create pollution and electronic waste. Thus the waste of smartphone manufacturing is being a threat that could damage the environment we live in.
Electronic waste contains hazardous and toxic materials such as heavy metals, PVC, Pcb, and many others that may risk the health and the environment around. The amount of E-waste also ridiculously increased over the years. Almost 50 million metric tons of electronic waste worldwide in 2019 alone, with 10% of it were smartphones and many other small electronic devices. The EU nation already warned smartphone manufacturers like Apple and Samsung to be more concerned about this waste problem. Chargers and cables contribute the most electronic waste as people are easily dumping it when it’s broken.
Apple already started to excluded chargers for their latest iPhone 12 packaging. They stated that everybody already had their own smartphone chargers, so they don’t need to add more unnecessary chargers. They also deliver the iPhone XR 2020 version with the same simplified packaging as the 12, without a charger and earphone. Xiaomi and Samsung followed their step, which also excluded chargers for their upcoming new MI 11 and Galaxy S 21 series.
Convenience
Who doesn’t want to experience convenience while using a device? Smartphones are produced to ease the users do their daily tasks. Not only functionality matter, but convenience can also drive users to become fans of a device. That is what smartphone manufacturers should notice. By having features like wireless charging and wireless earphone, users will be set free from cables attached to the device. Make them easier to move around while doing their on-screen activities. Having wireless charging can improve your mobility around — no need to sit at a point on coffeeshop just to plug your smartphone charger again. Say goodbye to the conventional charger and sit wherever you want as the phone charges wirelessly. It also reduces things you brought on the bag and gives more space for other goods to fit in.
Apple and Samsung also introduced their own wireless charging pad that allows their users to charge multiple devices at once. Just place the device you want to charge on the pad and let it fill the battery wirelessly. This wireless charging feature’s convenience undoubtedly drives the users to move from using a cable-based charger. As technology improved, who knows that we will see more wireless features everywhere, not only limited to smartphone devices.
Better for battery life
Many people may doubt the quality provided by wireless charging. They may wonder, is it safe and good for battery life? The answer is an absolute yes. Depends on how they use and the frequency they charge the device. Charging wirelessly delivers better electric consumption for the device rather than the cable one.
As the Lithium battery had a long life span, it can still be reduced along the time we used it. Battery health and quality will be decreased after more than one year of usage. To gain maximum battery life, we need to look after our charging habits. Charging a smartphone in a mid-drain condition — 50% battery indicator — is better than charging from a low-drained one. It will save your battery life-span. Charging the battery after it drains below 20% just makes the device performance decrease as the battery health weakens.
Having wireless charging also ease you to charge anywhere that allows wireless charging. No need to rush over the fulfilled battery. It will automatically stop charging when the battery percentage reached 100%. These features currently available on a cable-based charger, but you don’t need to unplug it when it is fully charged because it was already wireless.
The future is wireless.
Back when the Apple team introduces the iPhone 7 series, there was a slide behind Phil Schiller named “ The Future is Wireless “ in the background. It represents Apple’s vision about the future of wireless devices. Recently, at WWDC 2020, they introduced the iPhone 12 that fully supported wireless charging. They even introduced their own wireless charger named Magsafe. They excluded the conventional lightning charger on every iPhone 12 box. Besides decreasing the carbon pollution and electronic waste made from it, they have their own mission to do. Apple tries to “force” its consumers to buy and utilize the Magsafe that sold separately or use the old charger they already have.
It’s obvious that Apple wants to make more profit from selling another kind of “accessories” which more expensive as they are sold separately than the included one. On another side, Apple wants to make a more fully interconnected wireless environment. Started with the removal of the 3,5mm headphone jack years ago, so people use wireless AirPods. People may be confused and mock it at first. But now? they get used to it. They even brought the latest AirPods, which costs half of a new iPhone price.
The wireless environment that Apple already made may look stupid for some people. Spending more money to buy additional accessories that cost as same as a new phone in total. But for gadget fans, it can ease them to do daily tasks, and they can be experiencing a less knotty-cable life. Having convenience to enjoy using a smartphone to mobile everywhere they go.
Everything goes back to personal experience while using the wireless features. You can hate it or love it as you implement the features into your daily life. Technology has made to ease humanity.
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Contributor: Abdul Hamid
