Bloomberg says that Apple will introduce a device in its stores that will update the software of iPhones not yet sold, without taking them out of the box and without unsealing them in any way.
I find the technology novel and essentially quite simple. It will probably kill the discussions like “see, a phone can be turned on and controlled remotely, so they spy on you at any time!”, but if the system works as I think it does, there is no such risk.
First of all, why is Apple doing this? Probably to contribute to the feeling that you are buying a premium phone when you choose an iPhone. You take it out of the box and it’s up to date with software, including minor security updates.
In addition, the iPhone has absolutely no bloatware or other 3rd party apps pre-installed. It’s a difference from Android, where after the initial setup process, you find that about 20 apps need updating. I’m not just referring to what we consider useless bloatware, but also to some like Netflix, Facebook or Maps, which I don’t mind having pre-installed.
Good. How does Apple update without taking the phones out of the box? Well, apparently he has a kind of rack, called Presto, that fits 6 iPhone cases. There are all kinds of guides and clamps for each box to be positioned with great precision in the machine.
My guess is that the device is primarily a large wireless charger. Wireless charging uses one coil in the charger and another coil in the phone. A current flowing through the first induces a current in the second coil and thus electricity is transferred to the phone.
The coils of common wireless chargers are quite weak, so the phone must be placed in contact with them. A stronger coil could, however, charge a phone from a greater distance, for example from a few centimeters. In the USA, roads are being tested that electrically charge the vehicles driving on them. Others integrate phone chargers under a desk top.
The Apple device must transmit electricity to the phone only through the cardboard box in which it is packaged. The phone sits in the box with the back up, not the screen up. In other words, if you put the case down on a wireless charger, there’s only 2mm of cardboard between that charger and the phone in the case. A more powerful charger will charge it without problems.
A powered off iPhone placed on a wireless charger will automatically turn on. I tested this with mine.
A new one in its box will probably open those initialization Hellos on the screen. Then there are several possibilities for updating:
- the phones can be programmed to connect at that time to a wireless network known only to them, the network generated by Apple’s upgrade device. After connecting, the phone is updated and then sent a shutdown command.
- the wireless charger itself can transmit a signal, for example by modulating the current in a certain way, to enter the phone into a bootloader mode or to transfer an update package to it. It would take a while.
There are many methods to secure the whole operation.
I think, however, that the whole operation takes some time and I don’t think that stores can update all the iPhones in their stock every time Apple releases a minor operating system update. Today you put iOS 17.4 on them and after a few days Apple discovers some bugs and releases 17.4.1. If the device only fits 6 phones and then it takes 30 minutes to update each one, that’s a lot of wasted time. If they have 10 Presto machines and make 60 calls at once, maybe they have better throughput.
My guess is that stores know roughly how many iPhones they sell in a day and make sure to update enough phones ahead of time for the rollout. Or maybe the procedure is designed only for big updates, not for periodic minor ones.
Anyway, interesting system. I would be much more curious to find out his business case. That device had to be built and the phones had to be additionally programmed for remote updates. Why did this need arise? How has it been justified versus the costs it incurs?
