Very recently we wrote an article on how to adapt your Android mobile to MagSagfe to enjoy all the accessories with this technology. We promise we didn’t know anything about what’s coming next, but it turns out that official compatibility is already dated.
You will no longer need adapters or anything like that. The reason? Thanks to the new Qi2 wireless charging standard, MagSafe will soon be officially coming to Android .
Qi2 will democratize MagSafe, but it will also improve the efficiency and power of wireless charging
Although the Qi wireless charging standard for mobile phones has existed since before, in 2020 Apple decided to take it further. The company took its old MagSafe technology for laptops, adapted it to its iPhone 12s, and ended up creating magnetic wireless charging. What advantages does MagSafe bring? Nothing technically, but its magnet system solves one of the big problems of the Qi standard: the fastening , since it prevents you from putting your mobile phone on the charger wrong and ultimately not being able to charge.
Until now, bringing MagSafe to Android was possible through adapters, but the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) wants to change this reality. To do this, they are promoting the new Qi2 wireless charging standard, which seeks to democratize MagSafe for everyone and introduce other improvements. According to the WPC (via Business Wire ), Apple gave away information about how MagSafe works so others could use it, but first there are a few details to refine.
Although the consortium has not given details about it, it is known that Qi2 will bring improvements in the power and efficiency of wireless charging . This is great, especially since it’s a standard and will work on Android, but it conflicts with how MagSafe currently works.
In case you don’t know, Apple has said on several occasions that its magnetic wireless charging is limited to just 15W for two reasons: energy efficiency and high temperatures that could deteriorate the batteries. Both are known issues with wireless charging, but the use of magnets aggravates them.
Taking this into account, it is rumored that Qi2 would not be an exact copy of MagSafe , but rather take some ideas from the fastening system and improve them. Will they not use magnets? What will happen to iPhones that are compatible with the current MagSafe design and the new standard?
When will the Qi2 magnetic wireless charging standard be released for Android and other mobiles?
There is no exact date for the launch yet, but the WPC expects to introduce the Qi2 standard by the end of 2023 . And as we just mentioned, there are still many unknowns to address, especially the issue of compatibility.
However, being a standard, it is very likely that the WPC is working to prevent many current and useful devices from losing support . After all, the idea of standards is always that the greatest number of users and devices can enjoy their advantages.
Taking all this into account, we will surely see the first mobiles with Android and Qi2 in Q4 of 2023 or Q1 of 2024. The same with compatible accessories.
