So … Where is AirPower? | iMore

AirPower has been announced alongside the iPhone 8, 8 Plus and the iPhone X at the September Apple event … in 2017. This was an overview and not an exit. Apple has announced that it would only be available in 2018. Since then, the iPhone X and party and another September event with it. We are now in November 2018 – end of November – and AirPower is still not found.

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2017: AirPower Year Zero

Recently, when Apple makes a big change, she likes to announce a great halo product. The best example is AirPod. The iPhone 7 may have abandoned the headphone jack, but it has provided us with one of the most innovative consumer electronics products we've seen in recent years. Custom W1 chip – tiny computers that allow instant pairing, switching between linked devices and ultra-solid synchronization between left and right, without any cables.

They were announced at the September 2016 event as coming later this fall. Apple even provided reviewers with preliminary versions to test so that they could benefit from the full experience of the iPhone 7 and the Apple Watch Series 2. They ended up shipping in delay of a few months. Available on order December 16th and in store before December 20th.

AirPower was probably supposed to be similar, if not identical. iPhone 8, 8 Plus and iPhone X. They gave up the metal back for the glbad and gave us an inductive Qi-based charge. Nothing innovative in itself – phones have been charging inductively for a decade – but Apple seemed to want to show not only its commitment to technology, but also its commitment to move it forward. It was AirPower. Not just an inductive support or a support capable of charging new iPhones, but a super-support capable of charging up to two iPhones, or an iPhone, an Apple Watch 3 or later, and even a pair of smartphones. AirPod in a new inductive case all their own.

This would change the point of view: Apple has finally joined the inductive charging club to become Apple and make the induction charge smoother and smarter than any member of the club before.

They were not announced as coming later that year, but as the following year. In short, spring of the following year on a single web page. But everywhere else – and possibly an updated version of this page too – just next year.

2018: AirPower Year One

The Apple Post, February 7, 2018:

According to an informant from the US retailer Best Buy, Apple is preparing to launch the AirPower wireless charging mat and the new AirPods wireless charging box in March, claiming that Best Buy will stock AirPower from day one online and in the future. store.

Mac Otakara on March 23, 2018:

Regarding this, AirPower is supposed to be sold in March and Qi Wireless Charge with Apple Watch Series 3 at AirPower, it is detected with a special wave and allows Qi Wireless charge identical to that used when the Apple Watch Magnetic Charging Cable is used.

Apple is preparing to launch its AirPower wireless internal charger by the end of March

But spring has come and gone, and the March event and the new 9.7 inch iPad have accompanied it. But no AirPower. The summer came and went too, as well as WWDC and iOS 12. But still not AirPower.

Mark Gurman, writing for Bloomberg on June 21, 2018:

Apple did not announce plans to launch AirPower in 2018, but engineers were hoping to launch the charger in June. The goal now is to put it up for sale before or in September, according to one of the people. In recent months, Apple engineers have beefed up device testing by using it as a charger at the office, said another person.

AirPower has always remained on the Apple website, but only on the AirPods page and only with reference to the currently unavailable wireless charging case.

Mark Gurman writes for Bloomber on September 10, 2018:

AirPower Wireless Charger: This is the Apple Charger that can simultaneously charge an iPhone, an Apple Watch and AirPod without connecting them. The company faced development challenges, but plans to launch it this month, Bloomberg News reported earlier this year.

The fall has come and gone, and the events of September and October, new iPhones and iPads galore. But yes, still not AirPower.

John Gruber, writing for Daring Fireball on September 15th:

What I have heard, third hand but from multiple small birds, is that AirPower is really well and truly baded. Something in the multi-battery design gets too hot – way too hot. There are engineers who have reviewed the design of AirPower and who have stated that it could never work thermally. Today, these same engineers tell you that they "tell you so" with enough air. Last year, Apple was apparently persuaded that they could find a way to not make it hot. They were clearly wrong. I think that they had to either go back completely to the drawing board and start over with a totally different design, or they decided to give up and they just do not want to say it.

On September 16, 2018, Sonny Dickson, previously known for having found pre-production iPhone demonstration units and other Chinese supply chain apparatus, released this issue. he had heard with AirPower:

Currently, the device produces far too much heat, resulting in performance losses and can affect the load capacity of the devices if they become too hot during the process. This also affects the ability of Apple's custom charging chip, which runs a simplified version of iOS, to work as expected.

The mechanism used for the loading of several devices, which, we have confirmed, consists of 21 to 24 different sized feed coils, is suitable for the three main products to be loaded (AirPod equipped with an accessory box wireless charging, iPhone and Apple Watch), which are divided into three identical charging groups, prove extremely difficult to build or refine, and have caused a significant amount of interference so far, which reduces the efficiency of the load carpet, and contributes to the heat problems faced by engineers.

On September 17, 2018, Binyamin Goldman wrote for Apple Toolbox:

According to two independent sources, Apple has canceled AirPower as we know it, and it will not appear at any event that the company plans for October.
The decision to cancel the device was made a month and a half ago and discussions about the next move only started recently.

People familiar with the project said the company plans to start work on a less ambitious wireless charging accessory, which should be launched in early 2019. It is currently undecided whether a future device will inherit the nickname of 39; AirPower or if the mark will be destroyed.

Apple Watch 4 came with a version of the Milanese Loop that could be open, apparently to be able to work with AirPower. This was probably planned well in advance. However, with the launch of the iPhone XS and the iPhone XR, AirPower remained on the documentation included in the package, which is much easier to edit much later in the cycle. publication, especially for the glitzy Apple.

Charge

Place the iPhone with the screen up on AirPower or a Qi certified wireless charger.

According to Guilllermo Rambo, writing for 9to5Mac on September 20th, he also stayed in the code:

Looking in iOS 12.1, we found that the iOS component responsible for the charge interface management that appears when using AirPower has been updated, this which means that Apple is still actively working on the project.

On October 23, 2018, Kuo Ming-Chi reported, via MacRumors:

According to Kuo, Apple may launch new AirPods and AirPower by the end of the fourth quarter of 2018, or the beginning of the first quarter of 2019, but it does not yet know the specific projects of the company.

Apple has already launched its products in December. AirPods, of course, in 2016 and the Smart Battery case for iPhone 6s in 2015. But this is certainly not the norm. HomePod, announced at WWDC in June 2017 as scheduled for later that year, was postponed until early February 2018 after AirPlay 2 proved more difficult to identify than initially planned.

2019: AirPower, third year

If a launch in December is not planned for AirPower and the lack of noise that preceded the last month of the year suggests that it seems more likely, the beginning of next year is February or March .

If the project is really in trouble or even canceled, as the rumor says, and another project with the same name or for a similar purpose, if the simplest goal is not quickly implemented, it could well be longer.

"Great artists ship." "Apple is delivered." Is one of the basic tenants of the company. But delays on everything from AirPods to HomePod, and AirPower in particular, put this tenant to the test. Maybe that's why no special halo accessories have been announced next to this year's iPhone or iPad, despite the new formula of the new modular Mac Pro 2017: Apple has learned the dangers of a deviation from its "say nothing" strategy, and the pain it can cause when forecasts do not match arrival lines.

Where is AirPower? I'll do better: why AirPower?

AirPods launched a challenge and changed our expectations regarding the true feel of intangible wireless headphones. Even at its best, AirPower would probably not have done this for the inductive load. Not like ubiquity. It's not like that every table in every cafe and restaurant, every tray in every carpool and every plane, inductively charge everywhere.

And it will take more than a charger capable of handling a wide variety of different devices. This takes a wide variety of devices that can all be loaded in the same way.