Apple has officially pulled the plug on its AirPower wireless charging mat.
The iPhone maker decided to cancel any work on the AirPower after concluding it wouldn’t meet Apple’s ‘high standards,’ the company confirmed to TechCrunch.
Apple’s announcement comes more than a year after it first announced the AirPower.
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Apple has officially pulled the plug on the AirPower. The firm confirmed that it would cancel any future work on the charging mat after it concluded it wouldn’t meet its ‘high standards’
‘After much effort, we’ve concluded AirPower will not achieve our high standards and we have cancelled the project,’ Dan Riccio, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, told TechCrunch.
‘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,’ he added.
Leading up to the announcement, speculation had increased about the future of AirPower and why Apple hadn’t said anything publicly about the product since its launch in September 2017.
The firm had said the AirPower would ship in 2018, but gave no updates for roughly 18 months.
Then, strangely, sketches of the AirPower were spotted on packaging for the AirPods 2, released earlier this month.
The packaging also stated that the second-generation AirPods were compatible with ‘AirPower mat.’
It led many to believe that the AirPower release was imminent, particularly since Apple had debuted new iPads, Macs and AirPods ahead of its Services-focused event this week.
The AirPods 2 packaging shows a diagram instructing users that they can place their AirPods in a charging case, which can then laid on top of what appears to be the AirPower
Apple hadn’t said anything publicly about the product since its launch in September 2017. Since then, rumors began to build that the AirPower would never see the light of day
But with Friday’s announcement, Apple has put the final nail in the coffin for the AirPower, crushing many Apple fanboys’ dreams of getting their hands on the wireless charging mat.
Many believe Apple ultimately made the call to cancel the AirPower as a result of difficult engineering issues.
Unlike other wireless charging mats currently on the market, the AirPower was supposed to be able to charge up to three devices at once.
Users could theoretically place their iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods anywhere on the mat and their devices would charge.
However, as AirPower remained absent, rumors swirled that Apple was facing repeated issues with the device that prevented it from being brought to market.
Namely, Apple reportedly faced difficulties navigating challenges associated with AirPower’s complex circuitry.
Reports said Apple encountered repeated issues with heat management and charging speed, as well as charging interference.
They also said AirPower struggled to communicate with corresponding iOS devices, which meant that it couldn’t accurately predict what the charge levels are for those items.
Choosing not to release the AirPower was ultimately likely the safe choice for Apple.
If the device truly did have overheating issues, the company could have faced issues akin to Samsung with exploding iPhones and devices that got too hot.
Apple’s announcement that it’s killing AirPower did anger some consumers who had been eagerly anticipating the device’s arrival.
‘RIP AirPower. What a black eye for Apple’s hardware folks, and for Apple’s wireless charging strategy in general,’ coder Steve Troughton-Smith tweeted.
‘Impossible to believe Apple legitimately couldn’t ship a Qi charger with multiple coils. You can buy three third-party chargers and sit them side by side just fine.’
Neil Cybart, a long-time Apple analyst, added: ‘The problem with AirPower wasn’t that it was announced before it was 100% ready to go. iPhone anyone?
‘Instead, the problem was Apple couldn’t overcome the barriers that ultimately prevented a successful launch,’ he said.
It’s not a great look for Apple’s hardware division, which has experienced a few missteps in recent months.
The firm has yet to resolve a persistent flaw in the butterfly keyboards on Mac computers.
Additionally, Apple famously delayed the launch of its AirPods headphones, as well as the HomePod voice-activated speaker.
