A confluence of overheating, communication, and interference issues may be causing delays for Apple’s long-awaited AirPower wireless charging pad.
The AirPower, which was teased over a year ago at the same event used to announce the iPhone X, was set to debut sometime ago. the device, which could simultaneously charge your AirPods, Apple Watch, and iPhone, may have been a bit ambitious to begin with.
Over on Daring Fireball, John Gruber has highlighted the AirPower’s multi-coil design as being the source of woe. The design allegedly causes the device to overheat, an issue which has been rumored to have been around since June, with Apple struggling to find a solution.
Over on Sonny Dickson, the issues listed also include the AirPower’s struggling to communicate with devices, meaning it doesn’t know the charge levels of the devices that it’s filling with power.
Finally, attempting to charge multiple devices simultaneously has also lead to interference issues cropping up between them.
Neither Gruber nor Dickson have stated as to whether the AirPower project has been delayed or cancelled entirely, but both agree that the situation isn’t great for Apple.
Apple has apparently scrubbed all mention of the AirPower from its web site, which may be indicative of things as well.
AirPower has always been an ambitious piece of engineering. While normal wireless chargers contain just a single coil designed to charge a single device at a time, Apple’s first foray into the area reportedly contains between 16 and 24 overlapping coils of different sizes designed to charge multiple devices simultaneously. All of which adds up to a very ‘Apple’ device, wherein the company takes a pre-existing technology and gives it enough usability improvements to leapfrog the competition.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via The Verge, Daring Fireball, and Sonny Dickson