Dell is a well-reputed, American technology company that designs, develops, and manufactures amazing personal computers. Since 1984 Dell has produced personal computers directly considering the preferences presented by their users. Which made Dell PCs loved and embraced throughout the world. Dell Tech is also famous for introducing new features with their Personal Computers that make their users excited with every model they release.
To make the user experience a better and well-refined one, Dell has decided to venture into the unknown seas of Reverse Charging. For the record, Apple Inc did venture into these waters earlier. Making the whole community of technology enthusiasts excited, Dell also has decided to adventure this feature and try Reverse Charging in their devices as well. The news came out from the ‘Patently Apple’ blog. ‘Patently Apple’ blog focuses on delivering the best coverage of Apple’s Intellectual properties. The blog published a form of Dell’s utility patent around a clip. According to the patent, the attachable clip facilitates wireless charging once attached to a laptop.
But what exactly is Reverse Charging? Let’s grasp what Reverse Charging is first.
What is Reverse Charging?
Reverse Charging is a very unique and useful feature. It allows the user to transmit power between devices. To put it simply, with Reverse Charging you can charge one device with another. You might ask “I do that all the time. How is it new?”. There is much more to Reverse Charging than just simply charging your smartphone by connecting a USB cable to your PC. With Reverse Charging you can transmit power between your laptop and many other devices. Most importantly Reverse Charging is completely wireless. This helps you to get rid of that messy look on your table. Without all those wires tangling and slowing down your work, you can be more efficient and organized.
It’s not on the market yet
Even though wireless charging has been around for quite a while for smartphones and smartwatches, wireless charging for reverse charging is something that’s not available there in the market yet. Apple has been testing wireless Reverse Charging for almost 8 years now. Yet we still haven’t seen wireless Reverse Charging in a MacBook. Dell entering the field not only puts pressure on Apple but also allows users to have a choice once both companies release the feature with their products.
Charging Clip
Essentially Dell is testing an attachment, presumably a clip that attaches to your laptop below the keyboard area. You just have to keep the device that you need to charge on the clip, then you can easily charge the device without getting any wires involved. This would be convenient for many people as they won’t have to carry a power bank or a cable around if they have their laptop with them. Let’s dig more into the details of Reverse Charging for the sake of all the tech nerds out there.
Patent
Dell’s patent application published shows a wireless charging clip attached to the laptop below the keyboard area. You can attach the charging clip to the laptop whenever you want to use the Reverse Charging feature. The clip is consisting of a charging coil. Below the first surface, there is a ferrite sheet. A couple of mating elements will also be paired with similar elements in the laptop. The clip would possibly come out with magnets for ease of attaching. A combination of all these makes Reverse Charging possible within the laptop. On the contrary, Apple’s version of Reverse Charging involves a built-in charging mechanism that’s inside MacBook.
Advantages
Let’s talk about why Reverse Charging is important and what you can expect from it
- Primarily, Reverse Charging lets you get rid of all those annoying cables on your setup. Not only this helps to make your desktop looks much more organized, but also saves you the trouble of scouring for a cable whenever you need to charge your smartphone with your laptop.
- Any device that supports wireless charging can be charged with this feature. Therefore, you don’t have to worry about whether or not you have the right type of cable to plug in.
- Another added advantage over Apple’s Reverse Charging system is that you can charge a variety of devices as Apple’s feature will probably only allows you to charge Apple devices
- As you can attach the Dell clip to any laptop rather than being built-in like in the case of Apple, you can use any laptop as the power source.
- Reverse Charging would not damage your laptop battery in any sort of way nor will it shorten the life span of your laptop battery. There were rumors that this technology could affect your laptop battery in a bad way, but they were proven wrong.
There is much more to Reverse Charging considering the numerous ways this technology can be used. But let’s talk about the downsides of Reverse Charging now. Yes, there are downsides to Reverse Technology which could even make you ponder whether you need this feature or not.
Disadvantages
- First of all, you will have to purchase the clip when Dell Tech releases it. Provided all the uses it brings in it could be for a high price point.
- You will have to keep the clip with you at all times if you want to use the wireless Reverse Charging feature on your laptop
- Charging is only possible when the laptop is open. As the clips come to fit with the base of the laptop you won’t be able to charge your device while the laptop is in the closed position or when it’s turned off. This is a place where Apple steals a point from Dell, as users can charge their iPhones even when their MacBook is closed. This is possible as the charger is built into the laptop in the case of the MacBook.
- Another major disadvantage is that wireless charging can be significantly slow. Even to the level for a patient person to be impatient.
- There could be a high energy loss during the transmission as well. This might cause the device to heat up as well.
- If something is put on the laptop where elements meet, some connection issues could occur.
As mentioned above there are some downsides that can occur with the use of this Reverse Charging technology of Dell. Apple has been studying this sector for quite a time now but still hasn’t released a proper Reverse Charging mechanism with MacBooks. We might have to wait for a longer time in the case of Dell. As they just starting to navigate in these unchartered waters. If they are to release theirs earlier, it could affect the product in the long run as being hasty could potentially compromise the quality of the final product.
Final Words
Even though neither of the two companies has released this feature yet, this sure stirred up all the tech nerds and the tech world a bit. Neither of the companies has made an official announcement about a release date for these features as well. There is still a possibility that this won’t come out after all. Yet we all have hope in both Apple Inc and Dell Tech. Let’s talk about this incredible feature once it’s released.