iPhone Qi Wireless Charging

[WJKramer]

Pretty sure it's the iPhone camera bump preventing the charging. My iPhone 13 pro works fine on every charger because theny don't take up the entire back leaving the camera bump exposed. The Mach E's charging mat does not allow for this and the camera bump raises the edge of the phone slightly breaking the connection after a while.

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[AEtherScythe]

I hope it's either 3/16" or 1/8" cause I got a lot of rubber cord to use up.

It's 2.5mm. Ask me how I know. ;-)

 

[AEtherScythe]

Here's my hack.

Purchased a black MagSafe compatible charger from Amazon (the standard Apple white was just too much). Got some adhesive pads to stick it onto the rubber mat. Cut a small slot into one of the rubber dividers and routed the cord along the edge. Hot glue'd things in place.

Works rather well. I can slide the phone off (or pull it off using the mat as leverage) with one hand.

Haha. Just noticed this! Great minds think alike. Except I recreated the mat for this purpose. =D
See here:

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/apple-magsafe-passenger-side-charging-mat.11638/

 

[AEtherScythe]

Pretty sure it's the iPhone camera bump preventing the charging. My iPhone 13 pro works fine on every charger because theny don't take up the entire back leaving the camera bump exposed. The Mach E's charging mat does not allow for this and the camera bump raises the edge of the phone slightly breaking the connection after a while.

Exactly right. The newest iPhone cameras bumps out ~4mm. Phone cases only slightly mask this fact and the camera causes the phone to be raised up even further off the mat.

The Ford stock mat adds 2.5mm of additional spacing between the phone and the charging unit.
I don't know how far below the metallic surface of charging unit the actual coils are, but clearly the overall distance with 2.5mm added by the mat plus the camera bump is straining the Qi requirements.

This got me thinking. I should add a camera cutout to my passenger side charging design even for the driver's side.
But my mat is only 2mm thick and the camera cutout is 4mm thick so at most I would by "buying" you 1.5mm. It could be enough to make the difference, though.

 

[generaltso]

Sorry to resurrect this oldish thread, but I wanted to document a change I just made that I'm hoping will improve the reliability of the Qi charger.

I noticed in FDRS that there's an option to change parameters of the wireless charger. In reality, there's only one parameter you can change which is to disable metal object detection, so I did that. Prior to this change, my iPhone 12 Mini would typically stop charging within 5 minutes of driving. After making this change, I drove for about 40 minutes without it stopping at all. Not enough evidence to call it yet, but I'll keep an eye on it to see if the metal detection really was the issue. ?

 

[WyldStallyn]

I changed the parameter yesterday and can now wireless charge my 12 Pro Max without it cutting out after a few minutes. In the Apple MagSafe case it still cuts out but it is fine without a case. Two hours of driving today with CarPlay and I was fully charged.

@generaltso thank you for posting this. I was not looking forward to physical modification or going wired.

 

[AEtherScythe]

Hello everyone! I've read in other threads that others have had issues maintaining steady wireless phone charging, but has anyone not been able to get ANY phone to charge? I tried my iPhone 12 Pro Max, and a iPhone 12 Pro, and neither are able to charge, even for a second...it almost seems like the Qi charging coil isn't working. I've tried with and without the phone cases, and with and without the mat. I've also turned the phones in different orientations to see if I can get the coil to be recognized, but no luck. Just wondering if anyone out there has had a DoA wireless charger (and if I should be contacting the dealer already..)

Do you know anyone with a newer iPhone?
It would be good, just as a test to see if a newer iPhone works with your MME charging mat.

Reason is, Apple had lots of complaints about Qi charging with the iPhone 12 series and they made improvements in the iPhone 13 series.

Since some iPhone 12 users say their's works fine with the MME, it's a question of is your charging mat stone-cold dead or partially working, but not working well enough for your iPhone 12 (e.g. not working as well as some other people with that series).

Either way, your dealer should be able to test it and root-cause + fix it under warranty.

 

[zhackwyatt]

Sorry to resurrect this oldish thread, but I wanted to document a change I just made that I'm hoping will improve the reliability of the Qi charger.

I noticed in FDRS that there's an option to change parameters of the wireless charger. In reality, there's only one parameter you can change which is to disable metal object detection, so I did that. Prior to this change, my iPhone 12 Mini would typically stop charging within 5 minutes of driving. After making this change, I drove for about 40 minutes without it stopping at all. Not enough evidence to call it yet, but I'll keep an eye on it to see if the metal detection really was the issue. ?

I wonder what the implications are? It had that setting for a reason.

 

[Badger_Prof]

I wonder what the implications are? It had that setting for a reason.

To learn the implication, I suggest the following: In your home, plug in a Qi charger. Put some metal objects on the Qi charger. Enjoy the heat.

 

[ChasingCoral]

My first test today but charging off my iPhone 12Pro lasted much longer today. The trick? A thinner pad:

Thanks @AOSK

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

My first test today but charging off my iPhone 12Pro lasted much longer today. The trick? A thinner pad:

Thanks @AOSK

Is yours in a case Mark?

 

[generaltso]

I wonder what the implications are? It had that setting for a reason.

I’m not going to put any metal objects there to find out.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Is yours in a case Mark?

Yes, mine is in a case and I'll be that contributes to the issue. I'm not pulling the iPhone out of the case every time I drive though.

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

I just used double sided tape to put a MagSafe puck above the QI pad. Holds firmly and charges faster than the Qi pad ever will. Less heat loss too.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

Yes, mine is in a case and I'll be that contributes to the issue. I'm not pulling the iPhone out of the case every time I drive though.

I have an official mag safe charger case on my 12 Pro Max. The Aosk mat did not significantly change the duration of the charging. The case is easy to pull mine out as it’s a fairly minimal case, but I’m not inclined to do so regularly. I use their rubberized charger tray organizer now and without the case, charging works fine. As others have said though, this appears to be an iPhone 12 issue. I also don’t have FRDS to try the change mentioned via few posts above.

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