Apple Fuel Cell Could Provide 'Weeks' Of Power
Apple submits papers for a "portable and cost-effective fuel cell system for a portable computing device".
10:18, Friday 04 September 2015
One of the patent diagrams which Apple has submitted
Apple has submitted a patent application for a fuel cell system which could power its devices for "weeks".
The application hints that technology would initially be used in Apple's MacBook devices.
The document says the power system could keep the laptop running "for days or even weeks".
It details a "portable and cost-effective fuel cell system for a portable computing device", which could use several different energy sources to provide power.
The application suggests that rather than recharging, users would replace the device's power cartridge with a new one when it had run out.
Apple appears to be keeping its options open in terms of the exact fuel to be used in the system.
The document says: "The fuel source comprises at least one of: sodium borohydride and water; sodium silicate and water; lithium hydride and water; magnesium hydride and water; lithium borohydride and water; lithium aluminum hydride and water; aluminum hydride; an amine borane complex; a hydrocarbon; lithium aluminum hydride; magnesium borohydride; a magnesium borohydride-amine complex; compressed hydrogen gas; and liquid hydrogen."
Only a small number of Apple's patents actually make it into its products.
A British company recently said it had developed an iPhone that can go a week without needing to be recharged.
Intelligent Energy made a working prototype which contained a rechargeable battery and its own patented technology which created electricity by combining hydrogen and oxygen.
