iPhones, iPads, Macs may one day be able to wirelessly charge your Apple Watch

iPhones, iPads, and Macs may be able to wirelessly charge your Apple Watch via near filed communication (NFC), which makes it possible to wirelessly charge small, battery-powered consumer and IoT devices with a smartphone or other NFC charging device at a power transfer rate of up to one watt.  

Apple has been granted a patent (number 10,958,310) for “wirelessly charged electronic device with shared inductor circuitry” that specifically mentions “wristwatches.” 

In the patent data, Apple notes that (of course) a battery in an electronic device can often be charged by using a cable to couple the electronic device to a source of power. However, it’s not always convenient to rely on wired charging arrangements such as these. 

Apple says, in compact and portable devices, for example, the use of a charging cable may be unwieldy. Charging cables can be avoided by using wireless charging, but wireless charging circuitry can be bulky. Apple says it would therefore be desirable to be able to provide electronic devices with improved wireless charging capabilities such as NFC.