The AirPower has been officially scrapped, but that doesn’t mean Apple is done with wireless chargers. The company would ‘just’ tinker with a new charging mat.
‘AirPower makes comeback under different name’
So writes Mark Gurman, a usually well-informed journalist who Bloomberg News writes.
Apple is said to be working on a wireless charger that can simultaneously power your iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods. You simply place your things on the charging mat to recharge them. You must of course connect the wireless charger (wired) to the socket.
Does this look familiar? You can, because this is an exact description of the AirPower. Apple tinkered with this wireless charger for years and even officially announced it in 2017, along with the iPhone 8 (Plus) and iPhone X.
The AirPower was supposed to be released in 2018 but was eventually scrapped completely in 2019, because Apple was unable to solve the production problems. For example, the first versions had to deal with overheating problems. The AirPower has therefore never been officially released.
Experiment with wireless charging at a distance
Gurman also writes that Apple is experimenting with long-distance wireless charging. How this will work exactly is still unclear. The journalist does claim that the technology will not appear “in the coming years”.
Maybe it will look like Mi Air Charge, a technique that Xiaomi introduced at the beginning of this year. Mi Air Charge can wirelessly power multiple devices within a radius of a few meters by converting millimeter waves into energy.
For the time being, this technology is also future music: it is not clear whether (and when) Xiaomi will release it.
New life for AirPower?
The AirPower may have been scrapped, but the rumors have not. There are regular reports that Apple is working on a new wireless charger. Usually, however, these are from less reliable sources. Gurman, on the other hand, very often disseminates accurate information about unannounced Apple products.
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