Apple is reported to be working with its partners in the U.S. and Asia to develop wireless charging technology that would enable its devices to be powered without any direct contact with charging mats.

The company is “exploring cutting-edge technologies that would allow iPhones an iPads to be powered from further away than the charging mats used with current smartphones,” Bloomberg states.

The technology would give Apple devices an edge in an increasingly competitive market; rivals Samsung, Sony, and Google are releasing wirelessly charged smartphones that still require charging plates.

The technology has been on the horizon for some time now.

Since 2010, Apple outlined a patent, in which an iMac is utilized as a charging hub at a distance of about one meter. (A similar method is currently used to charge the Apple Watch within millimeters of its power source.) Another describes a method for making aluminum phone casings that double as an RF antenna.

Of course, developing the kind of (sexy, streamlined) technology that can quickly and efficiently charge devices from a distance is easier said than done: the efficiency of power transfer decreases as the distance between a transmitter and receiver grows, meaning batteries take longer to charge.