A new standard for wireless charging was introduced by the Wireless Power Consortium at CES 2023. This new standard is called Qi2, and it is the successor to Qi, which has been the standard for wireless charging for around 15 years.
According to Paul Struhsaker, executive director of the Wireless Power Consortium, users and retailers found the existing Qi wireless charging standard to be difficult to grasp. According to him, the issue was in differentiating between devices that were certified by Qi and those that were not certified by Qi, which led to a poor user experience and safety concerns.
As a solution to the problem, the consortium has revealed that the Qi2 will make gadgets “safe, efficient, and interoperable with other brands.” The wireless charging industry will use Qi2 as the universal standard.
The MagSafe port developed by Apple cleared the door for Qi2
According to a news statement issued by the Wireless Power Consortium, Apple’s MagSafe technology, which is used in the iPhone, served as the basis for the development of the Qi2 wireless charging standard. Apple’s participation in the development of Qi2 was key.
The new “Magnetic Power Profile” is the technology that enables wireless charging according to the Qi2 standard. This technology is based on Apple’s MagSafe. This will ensure that phones and other gadgets that can be recharged are aligned exactly with the chargers, which will, in turn, give efficiency and faster charging for the devices.
In the beginning, the Qi2 will have a limit of 15W, just like the MagSafe. After the first requirements have been finalized by the consortium, however, work will start on developing faster-charging versions of Qi2 that are able to handle larger wattages.
After the first requirements have been finalized by the consortium, however, work will start on developing faster-charging versions of Qi2 that are able to handle larger wattages.
Therefore, does this indicate that Apple’s MagSafe chargers are compatible with Android phones? The answer is both yes and no.
According to Paul Golden, spokesperson for the Wireless Power Consortium, both Apple and Samsung are on board with the Qi2 wireless charging standard, and the technology will soon come to their respective smartphone lines, as reported by The Verge. It’s possible that Qi2 and MagSafe will one day work together.
According to Golden, the Qi2 standard and the MagSafe standard do not share the same magnet layout. Although Apple has stated that they will be implementing the Qi2, the company has not disclosed what their plans are for the iPhone 12, 13, and 14 as well as the MagSafe-compatible items that are presently available on the market. Because of this, it’s possible that the iPhone 12, iPhone 13, and iPhone 14 — all of which use MagSafe — won’t support Qi2.
By the 2023 holiday season, the Qi2-certified phones and chargers are anticipated to be available, which implies they will likely be available by the end of this year.
Since Samsung, Google, Huawei, and Xiaomi have always maintained Qi compatibility, we anticipate that it will become available on the respective company’s high-end smartphones beginning in 2024. As a result, it is only logical for these brands to switch to the Qi2 standard for their upcoming products.