To say that Qi2 has been a messy launch is a bit of an understatement, but it sounds like the Wireless Power Consortium has some plans for what comes next, as a new teaser hints at a “new era” of Qi wireless charging that will be further detailed next week.
In a vague teaser on Twitter/X, the WPC says it is “heading into a new era of wireless charging” next week. Specifically, we’ll get more details on July 23 based on the “t-minus 1 week” mention.
The image in the tweet just says “It’s Coming” with a lightning bolt shape.
It’s all quite vague, but we can take some guesses as to what it all means.
The first option is that this could be in relation to Qi 2.2, the latest standard update which has just started appearing on accessories. The WPC might be intending to release more information on the updated standard, or be hinting at its arrival on smartphones. Google’s Pixel 10 series is expected to be among the first to adopt the standard (though built-in magnets are still a question).
Another possibility is that the WPC is set to announce another new Qi standard update. This would break the “usual” pattern where we’ve been seeing these updates around the start of the year, but it’s not totally out of the question.
Or, this could be something entirely unrelated to phones. Wireless charging isn’t limited just to smartphones, so it could be that the technology we see in Qi could be used for another product category altogether. For example, the WPC previously announced “Ki” as a kitchen-focused form of wireless power. It seems entirely possible something like that is also on the table.
For now, though, we’ll just have to wait and see what’s in store. What do you think it is?
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