Apple might be taking another stab at its AirPower wireless charging mat.
Following up on the previously canceled project, a new rumor claims that Apple is both revisiting the idea, and is even at the prototyping stage.
AirPower was a rare public failure for Apple, as it was announced in 2017, but was ultimately cancelled in 2019. At the time, Apple did not give specific reasons for why the project was dropped, though, and now a new rumor claims that it has revived its plans for the wireless charging mat.
Jon Prosser of Front Page Tech offered the following tweet:
AirPower isn’t dead
The project is back on, internally. No guarantee that they’ll finalize and release it, but they haven’t given up yet and they’re trying to re-engineer the coils to displace heat more effectively. Prototyping is underway.
Prosser’s record, though limited, included him correctly reporting when Apple was showing its AirPods Pro to media ahead of its official launch.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also chimed in on this as of January 2020, stating that Apple was planning to release what he only described as a “smaller wireless charging mat,” in the first six months of 2020.
Kuo stated that the “smaller” product wouldn’t have the AirPower’s promised ability to simultaneously charge an iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods.
However, it does also fit with what Apple said when it cancelled the original AirPower. After saying that it was not going to achieve “our high standards,” and apologizing for it, Apple added one extra comment.
“We continue to believe that the future is wireless,” said Dan Riccio, senior vice president of Hardware Engineering at the time, “and are committed to push[ing] the wireless experience forward.”
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via AppleInsider and @jon_prosser