Skip to main content

Pi can charge multiple iPhones wirelessly from a short distance

pi
Image used with permission by copyright holder
For the most part, wireless charging standards like Qi are a bit of a misnomer — they aren’t “wireless” in the sense that they require a plugged-in charger. But with Pi, a new charging technology developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduates, there’s no need to plop your phone on a pad.

Here’s how it works: Pi comes in the form of a cone-shaped base station and sits in an area where you’d typically charge your phone, like a kitchen counter or a bedside tablet. Charging your iPhone or Android phone is as simple as plugging it into a Pi-compatible charging case and placing it within a foot of the Pi, which can charge multiple devices at once. Up to four phones will charge at full speed (10W), with additional devices charging at a lower speed.

Future phones like the iPhone 8 won’t need Pi’s cases. They’ll charge as soon as they’re in range.

Pi uses electromagnetic charging technology — resonant induction, the same technique used in Qi — that’s been “proven safe” at the power levels needed to charge smartphones, tablets, wireless earbuds, and other portable electronics. It took Lixin Shi, an MIT Ph.D., and John MacDonald, a physician-turned-MBA-student at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, three and a half years of research to develop Pi’s magnetic field-reshaping components.

pi
Image used with permission by copyright holder

“Creating this technology required solving one of the most difficult mathematical problems in electromagnetics, and that’s why no one has done it before,” MacDonald said. “Power is the final frontier in a truly wireless world.”

Wireless charging at a distance isn’t new. Ossia, a Redmond, Washington-based startup founded in 2013, has demonstrated charging stations that use RF waves to transfer power in excess of 30 feet. And Energous, which took on a $10 million funding round toward the end of 2016, uses a similar technique to send power to wireless receivers.

But Shi contends that Pi’s magnetic field technology is better suited to the phones, tablets, and devices people use every day.

“Magnetic fields are the best way to send meaningful energy to phones, tablets, and other portable electronics,” Shi, Pi’s chief technology officer and co-founder, said. “The hard part was figuring out how to make magnetic charging more flexible, multi-device, and extend its useful range. It took over a year to complete the mathematical proof that makes it all possible.”

Pi is available for pre-order from the company’s website. It’s expected to ship sometime in 2018 for “under $200,” but customers who reserve one early get $50 off the purchase price.

Editors' Recommendations

Kyle Wiggers
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kyle Wiggers is a writer, Web designer, and podcaster with an acute interest in all things tech. When not reviewing gadgets…
YouTube TV just got even better on iPhones and iPads
Multiview on YouTube TV on an iPad.

If you use the most popular live-streaming service on an iPhone or iPad, things just got even better. YouTube TV — which boasts more than 8 million subscribers — just pushed multiview live on Apple's mobile devices, as previously promised.

It works basically the same way it does on a television. YouTube TV picks the programs available in multiview, and you get them all at once, with audio coming from one of the shows. Tap another, and the audio switches. And just as before, you can get multiview for sports, news, business, or weather. (Though we definitely don't recommend watching four news channels at once in an election year.) It's just in time for March Madness, which is great, though we hope you'll be able to pick your own games instead of just sticking with the multiple viewing options YouTube TV gives. This will be great come fall, though, when the new season of NFL Sunday Ticket takes hold.

Read more
iPhone 16 buyers may be treated to slimmer bezels and bigger screens
Lock Screen on the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Apple is reportedly planning to further shrink bezels with the upcoming iPhone 16 series. According to Korea’s Sisa Journal, Apple is banking on a new display tech called BRS (Border Reduction Structure) that has allowed suppliers like Samsung, LG, and BOE to reduce the size of the black borders around the screen.

Notably, all four iPhone 16 trims will get the display tech upgrade, but its true benefits will be reserved for the pricier Pro models. The report, citing market research firm Omdia, notes that both the Pro models will see their screen size go up by 0.2 inches thanks to slimmer bezels.

Read more
My iPhone’s keyboard is driving me crazy
Words displayed on an iPhone's screen in the Notes app, with the keyboard below them.

Abe, Ann, Anne, Anna, Ana, Ave, AB’s. These words are the bane of my life, as all too often my iPhone thinks I'm typing them instead of the word “and.” It happens shockingly often, to the point where I begin to think it’s doing it deliberately to troll me.

I’m an iOS keyboard fan, but it’s getting to the point where I’m going to have to make a big change unless Apple does something about it.
It’s always the word 'and'

Read more