The collective jaw of the consumer tech industry dropped Friday when reports from TechCrunch confirmed that Apple was cancelling its AirPower wireless charging dock, 18 months after it was first previewed. Apple explained in a statement that it cancelled the product because it could not meet the quality standard it had set in place for the dock.
So far, there are only third party charging docks that support wireless charging for Apple devices. Even though Apple’s influence made it so all manufacturers have consolidated their compatibility under the Qi wireless charging standard, the company had other plans for its own dock. Apple was expected to add its own proprietary technology to the Qi enabled dock to set it apart from other charging stations — creating a compact and aesthetically pleasing charging station able to power multiple devices at the same time in an innately Apple fashion.
Apple promised that not only would users be able to place devices anywhere on the AirPower mat and have it automatically identify the device and begin charging, they would be able to view the individual charging progress of up to three devices from their iPhone.
Several commentators have noted that Apple showcased AirPower at the 2017 launch of the iPhone X, but none of the demos were functional. During its entire inception, no one has seen a public demo of AirPower working.
There is no telling exactly what went wrong with the development of AirPower that caused its demise. Commentator, John Gruber divulged in October 2018 that Apple was struggling with heating issues with the charger. The amount of charging coils that may have been needed to allow the dock connect to and charge devices from any position could have been a safety hazard. Those are not the only opinions circulating. Some are more sarcastic than others, but hint at Apple hesisting to pay for licensing of the Qi technology or to develop its own wireless charging standard.
While many insist the AirPower project is completely dead and won’t be revived, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, Dan Riccio, reiterated the company’s commitment to providing wireless charging to consumers. For now, this may come in the form of enabling wireless charging on other Apple products.
News of AirPower’s cancellation came shortly after Apple released its latest AirPods 2 wireless earbuds, which are compatible with the company’s new wireless charging case. Several reviewers have demonstrated how they were able to use Galaxy S10 handsets to charge their AirPods inside the case, as Samsung’s new smartphone include a new feature called Power Share, which allow users to conduct power from a handset to charge other phones and accessories wirelessly. Outside of that novelty demonstration, Apple users will have to continue purchasing third party wireless chargers to power their devices.
Some pundits wonder if Apple may adopt a similar functionality into future devices, considering not only standard iPhones, but also MacBooks, rumored foldable devices. It may be some time before Apple reveals its future wireless charging plans.
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