14 DAY TRIAL // A patent application with Apple’s name on it filed November 14, 2012 and published earlier today reveals that the California computer giant might be on the verge of introducing a high-voltage charger for an upcoming device, perhaps even featuring backwards compatibility enabling current-gen devices to charge much faster.
A good way to make a general idea about the invention in question is to check out the “abstract” part of the text body published by various patent trackers, in this case Patentdocs.
“Techniques for performing high-voltage charging of electronic devices are provided. A portable device can communicate with a power supply over a data communication line to determine if the power supply is capable of performing the high-voltage charging operation. If yes, the portable device instructs the power supply to provide a specific voltage.”
So the patent, which has yet to be granted to Apple we hear, is for a high-power charger. But how much power are we talking about exactly? Well, according to Apple’s documentation, precisely 20 volts.
That’s considerably higher than the current 5-volt standard (used not only by Apple, but also its rivals Samsung, HTC, LG etc) and will serve charging portable “not limited to mobile phones, tablet computers, laptop PC's, PDA's, etc.,” according to the patent wording. Here’s hoping this charger comes to fruition this year when the iPhone 6 is deployed.