Wireless Chargers

My iPhone is a child of the 21st century with one 20th century vestige: the power cable.

- Will Fenton

Despite all of Apple’s promises of a wire-less future—unfettered Internet, payments and headphones—at the end of the day (or before) I find myself scavenging for power outlets, a caveman in Wingtips.

A new generation of wireless charging devices purports to cut the cable. Instead of tethering your phone to an outlet, inductive chargers allow you to rest a receiver on a charging pad. Some phones already include the tech, but most don’t, which means you’ll need to cobble together the add-ons. Once you have the necessary accoutrement, you’ll be wireless—for all of five millimeters, the width of a couple of nickels. Suffice it to say, I was a wireless charging skeptic.