James Titcomb.
‘We believe in a wireless future,’’ Sir Jonathan Ive’s voice rang out over the slickly produced video.
Apple’s design chief, speaking last September, was announcing the company’s new Bluetoothpowered headphones, designed to work with an updated iPhone that had lost its physical audio port.
Although Apple’s decision to drop the iPhone’s headphone jack drew controversy at the time, eagle-eyed followers believe it may have been the first hint of things to come. Next month, when Apple unveils its latest hamper of new gadgets in California, another wire may be cut.
At least one of the company’s iPhones is expected to feature technology that allows it to be charged without being plugged in, simply by placing it on an electromagnetic surface.
Wireless charging will hardly be a technical breakthrough for Apple. Phones from rivals including Samsung have featured it since 2015, as has Apple’s own smartwatch.
Electric toothbrushes have used the same basic technology for years. But nothing quite has the cachet, or the influence that the iPhone does.
Supporters of wireless power, who believe it could have an effect equal to the rise of wi-fi internet networks, say the company’s announcement will be a Henry Ford moment.
Where Apple leads, its competitors typically follow. In 1998, it removed the floppy disk drive from its iMac computers; and the technology soon became obsolete. The same happened to the CD-ROM drive and the wired internet port as wi-fi networks grew.
It did the same with the iPhone, refusing to support removable batteries and last year ditching the analogue headphone jack. For the most part, the industry has followed.
The belief is that the same will happen with wireless charging, making it a ubiquitous smartphone feature compared to the rarity it is today.
Eventually, wireless charging will be as common across offices, public spaces and restaurants as wireless internet is today.
‘‘An entire generation doesn’t think about plugging in an ethernet cable, our kids won’t grow up plugging into a charger,’’ said Dan Bladen, the founder of Chargifi, a wireless power start-up
At present, wireless charging requires a device to be placed on a surface in order to charge it, what the industry calls near-field charging. The surface, connected to a mains supply, creates a magnetic field that is picked up by electrified copper coils, attached to a device’s battery.
This is a stepping stone towards power being beamed around a room, eventually allowing a phone to charge in a pocket, but this is still years away.
Near-field or ‘‘inductive’’ charging will take off first. Sceptics say it will have little benefit in phones, and that having to place a handset on a mat offers little practical improvement over plugging one into a charging cable.
Research from Barclays suggests consumers value the idea well below other potential features such as greater memory or a bigger screen.
Thinking bigger may unlock wireless charging’s real potential. By the end of this year, Mercedes will start selling a version of its hybrid S-class that can be charged by parking it on top of a mat. Ford and BMWhave said they will do the same. Being able to drive on to a charging mat in a car park could help end ‘‘range anxiety’’ that threatens to hold fully electric cars back.
Self-driving vehicles would make wireless charging even more crucial. While a human driver may groan about having to get out of their car and plug a charging wire in, cars without a driver will