The iPhone 8 won’t be the only Apple handset to offer wireless charging this year, according to one of the companies it uses to assemble the device.
Winston, who’ll be splitting the duties with Foxconn this year, says that 2017’s 5.5-inch iPhone (likely to be dubbed the iPhone 7s Plus) will also boast the inductive charging tech.
As reported by Nikkei, CEO Robert Hwang said the assembly process won’t change that much apart from the addition of wireless charging and… wait for it… improved waterproofing.
He told reporters "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.”
The prospect of improved waterproofing tech is interesting, given Apple’s previous ambiguity in the area. Although the iPhone 7 range is water resistant to a certain extent, Apple does not cover water damage under the phone’s warranty.
Instead, it says: “Splash, water, and dust resistance are not permanent conditions and might decrease as a result of normal wear.”
Whether Apple intends to make it a feature rather than a handy thing to have if disaster strikes remains to be seen.
The likes of Samsung and Sony have long pushed their phones as waterproof, while touting them as underwater cameras.
Whether these features will roll out to the 4.7-inch iPhone 7s too remains to be seen.
