Apple patent suggests universal power adapter that can transfer data at the same time

If you thought that it was silly how you needed a USB cable for your iPhone, iPad, iPod and power cable for your Mac computer, it seems that Apple shares your sentiments, at least that’s how it has been suggested in a recent patent that was revealed by AppleInsider which seems to imply that perhaps in the future, Apple may be looking to create a universal power adapter that can not only charge your devices, but perform data transfers as well.

When it comes to charging your MacBook, iPhone or iPad, you have the option of charging it via a power adapter that plugs into the wall socket. As far as the iPhone and iPad are concerned, this method of charging is a lot faster than if you were to plug it into your MacBook or Mac computer to charge, but what this also means is that you lose the ability to transfer data from your computer to your iOS device.

This is what the patent hopes to achieve through the inclusion of a data port in the power adapter. Not only will this allow the user to transfer data between computer and iOS device, but also allow a MacBook and iOS device to be charged via power adapter at the same time. On top of that it will also reduce the need for the user to bring with them multiple cables and power adapters for various Apple devices.

It does sound like a pretty good idea, and out of many Apple patents we’ve come across so far, this is one of the few that looks like it could be implemented and made into reality some time in the near future

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Concepts
Tags: iOS, iPad, iPhone, Mac (Apple), Macbook, Patent