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Tag: AirPower

  • Apple may have resolved the AirPower’s overheating issue

    Apple may have resolved a major engineering concern with its ongoing AirPower accessory project.

    A new product leaked indicates that the Apple AirPower “C68” project has resolved an issue wherein the Apple Watch caused drastic overheating of the three-device charge pad.

    The leak surfaced from Jon Prosser, and the fix could resolve the core issue as to why the AirPower project had been canceled.

    Prior to this, Apple refused to explain why it had canceled the long-delayed product. In March 2019, Senior Vice President offered the following statement to the press regarding the issue:

    “After much effort, we’ve concluded AirPower will not achieve our high standards and we have cancelled the project. We apologize to those customers who were looking forward to this launch. We continue to believe that the future is wireless and are committed to push the wireless experience forward.”

    Per Prosser’s reportage, the issue was due to overheating. The Apple Watch, and its proprietary wireless charging system, were said to require more energy than other devices.

    AirPower was supposed to allow you to place multiple devices — such as Apple Watch, iPhone, and AirPods — anywhere on its surface and be charged. However, according to Prosser, “if you placed an Apple Watch on the mat alongside other devices, the entire mat would overheat.”

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via AppleInsider and @jon_prosser

  • Rumor: Apple taking another stab at wireless charging mat project, may have reached prototype stage

    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

  • Mophie gathering information, specs for AirPower wireless charging mat

    Peripheral maker Mophie could be working to pick up where Apple left off in its AirPower wireless charging mat efforts.

    Over at CES, Mophie parent company Zagg stated that Mophie is developing a wireless charging mat that has capabilities that Apple attempted to implement in the now-canceled AirPower, but was unable to make work. 

    The device will hopefully charge iPhones and other mobile devices regardless or where they’re placed on the charging mat. This feature was supposed to be a feature that was present in the commercially released AirPower.

    It’s unknown as to whether the company’s charging mat will be able to charge the Apple Watch, or if it will be limited to Qi-based wireless charging. Apple is said to have wanted its AirPower device to be able to charge the Apple Watch, iPhone, and AirPods, but were unable to sort out issues with overlapping charging coils that were necessary for the project.

    There are multi-device chargers on the market able to charge the ‌iPhone‌, ‌AirPods‌, and ‌Apple Watch‌ at once, but each device must be placed in a specific spot on the charger. Zagg’s solution would apparently work anywhere, and will be marketed under the Mophie brand. 

    Zagg marketing executive Brad Bell stated that the company is pitching its charging device to retailers and gathering feedback, so the timeline as to a finished product, or what it might look like, is currently unknown.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via MacRumors and Bloomberg

  • iPhone 11 handsets said to include two-way charging hardware, although feature may be disabled in near-term following launch

    Apple’s iPhone, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max handsets look as if they may include the required hardware for a two-way charging feature that was rumored for the devices, but Apple has apparently disabled the feature in the near term.

    This rumor stems from a tweet by reliable leaker and source Sonny Dickson, whose connections and blogging have proven reliable at times in the past. Dickson had early line of sight on the AirPower’s development challenges, for example, and the wireless charging mat was eventually canceled. 

    Months ahead of the 2019 iPhones’ unveiling, the handsets were rumored to feature a Qi-based device-to-device charging feature, which would allow the iPhone, Apple Watch, AirPods, and other devices to charge on the back of the iPhones. The feature was expected to be similar to Wireless PowerShare on Samsung’s Galaxy S10. 

    Only hours before Apple’s “By Innovation Only” media event last week, noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo stated that this feature appeared to have been canceled. Kuo is quoted as saying the feature was possibly abandoned because “the charging efficiency may not meet Apple’s requirements.”  

    Forthcoming teardown of the iPhone 11 handsets will reveal whether the two-way charging hardware is in fact present in the new handsets. The iPhone 11 handsets will be available in stores come Friday, September 20.

    Via MacRumors and Twitter

  • Apple abruptly cancels AirPower project

    Sometimes you have to fold ’em.

    Late Friday, Apple announced that its long-awaited AirPower charging mat product had been abruptly canceled.

    “After much effort, we’ve concluded AirPower will not achieve our high standards and we have cancelled the project,” Dan Riccio, Apple’s senior VP of hardware engineering, said in a statement. “We apologize to those customers who were looking forward to this launch. We continue to believe that the future is wireless and are committed to push the wireless experience forward.”

    The AirPower project had been delayed for more than a year, despite its having been announced alongside the iPhone X in September 2017. It was expected to debut in 2018.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via CNN Business