AirPower (hardware)

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AirPower is a wireless charging mat developed but not yet released by Apple Inc. The product was announced on September 12, 2017 at the Apple Keynote at the Steve Jobs Theater . The hardware was based on the Qi standard and should be able to flexibly charge up to three mobile devices at the same time. The charging mat was presented with an iPhone , an Apple Watch and AirPods , which charged in parallel and could be put on and taken down independently of one another. There should have been technical problems, so that the mat could not recognize which devices needed how much electricity and caught fire.

development

In order to enable parallel wireless charging of several devices with one charger, Apple worked together with the Wireless Power Consortium to further develop the Qi standard and purchased the wireless charging company PowerbyProxi . Apple named the year 2018 as the date for the start of sales.

In December 2018, Apple published a patent describing the AirPower charging mat. According to this, the charging mat should support the Qi and Power Matters Alliance technology for wireless charging. The AirPower charging mat is also advertised in the instructions that come with the iPhone Xs.

While journalists assumed a publication in September 2018, Apple finally deleted all references to AirPower from its websites after the keynote without giving a reason. In January 2019, media reports were published that spoke of a possible publication.

On March 25, 2019, Apple released iOS 12.2 with support for AirPower.

attitude

On March 29, 2019, the end of AirPower officially confirmed Dan Riccio, Apple's senior vice president of hardware engineering. The charging mat will not come on the market because the technical problems cannot be solved. The product does not meet its own quality standards.

In March 2020, investigative journalist Jon Posser went back to the project. He claims Apple is redesigning AirPower's charging coils in-house to address heat issues. However, series production is not guaranteed.

compatibility

Originally, the charging mat should be compatible with the following devices:

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Apple Keynote September 12, 2017. Apple Inc., September 12, 2017, accessed on April 12, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Patent describes new features of the AirPower charging mat. Retrieved December 12, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Airpower: Apple's wireless charging mat is slowly becoming vaporware . In: t3n News . ( t3n.de [accessed on September 14, 2018]).
  4. ↑ Charging mat: Apple deletes references to Airpower - Golem.de . ( golem.de [accessed on September 14, 2018]).
  5. ↑ Ben Schwan: Apple's AirPower: Triple charger comes and does not come. Retrieved September 14, 2018 (German).
  6. ^ David Nield: The Apple AirPower mat is reportedly entering mass production at last . In: TechRadar , January 13, 2019. 
  7. ↑ AirPower discontinued: Apple discontinues Qi charging mat. March 29, 2019, accessed March 29, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Is AirPower still alive? March 23, 2020, accessed March 23, 2020 .
  9. ↑ Roger Fingas Monday, August 13, 2018, 12:47 pm PT: All three 2018 iPhones to support wireless charging, AirPower mat to cost $ 150, rumors say. Retrieved December 12, 2018 .