Apple Falls Silent on Wireless Charger It Announced a Year Ago

[Megalith]

Speculation is mounting that Apple’s wireless charger AirPower is in a lot of trouble: not only was the charging pad completely absent during Wednesday’s iPhone event, Apple has also declined to discuss the product and scrubbed most, if not all, references to it on their official website. Some say it could have been scrapped entirely.

I wrote about AirPower’s absence earlier this week. What I’ve heard, third-hand but from multiple little birdies, is that AirPower really is well and truly f*cked. Something about the multi-coil design getting too hot — way too hot. There are engineers who looked at AirPower’s design and said it could never work, thermally, and now those same engineers have that “told you so” smug look on their faces.

 

[Master_shake_]

you're charging it wrong.

#courage

 

[exlink]

Not surprised; haven't heard a peep about it for the past year. They probably realized that it wouldn't sell for the $200 they were likely going to charge for it and decided to can it.

Hopefully they still release a wireless charging case for the AirPods though.

 

[Krazy925]

I kinda figured when apple released the wireless charging they’ll remove the lightning port and not replace it.

Apple has gotten so stale.

 

[Arbit3r]

Not surprised; haven't heard a peep about it for the past year. They probably realized that it wouldn't sell for the $200 they were likely going to charge for it and decided to can it.

Hopefully they still release a wireless charging case for the AirPods though.

Probably using a proprietary standard so say one built in to trucks wouldn't work with it. Likely it would cost a ton for their device that does it as its apples way.

 

[exlink]

Probably using a proprietary standard so say one built in to trucks wouldn't work with it. Likely it would cost a ton for their device that does it as its apples way.

Not sure what you mean, Apple already uses the Qi standard for wireless charging in their phones.

 

[sfsuphysics]

They ditched the headphone jack "because they could make the phone thinner" I'm guessing they hardware needed to make it charge wirelessly could also in theory add girth to the phone.

 

[Makeroflostsouls]

All of there new phones have wireless charging built in already, from the iPhone 8 on. They just failed at making there own charging pad apparently. Any of the Qi chargers on Amazon will work https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07G5T65JQ/ref=dp_ob_neva_mobile

I'll be picking up one for my new iPhone Xs Max.

 

[steakman1971]

I've been using a few Anker wireless chargers for my iPhone 8. They work fine!
I did read that heat might be an issue with what Apple was going to develop. I've never noticed any excess heat from my Anker chargers (although keep in mind, I'm just charging my phone).

 

[EODetroit]

Smart move. Cables just work.

 

[Evil Timmy]

Hard to sell people on something when I struggle to see a way for Apple to do it better and charge any kind of premium for it. iPhones are still only doing 7.5W wirelessly while newer Androids can do 10W, and basic chargers are under $15, or around $25 for dual coil/stand chargers. I guess both of the innovative engineers at Apple were on other projects, and the rest that just took a bite of the fruit were working on making slightly larger iPhones, because...our hands keep getting bigger?

 

[nilepez]

Probably using a proprietary standard so say one built in to trucks wouldn't work with it. Likely it would cost a ton for their device that does it as its apples way.

Unlikely, since from what I can tell, they work with most wireless charging pads. The thing I noticed, however, is that most of these pads are basically big enough for one device, which negates any possible benefits. I'd like to charge a couple of phones a watch and my Sonicare Toothbrush...ok not the toothbrush, but if I had a 2 phones and a watch or 2, I'd want them to charge on one pad...otherwise, might was well use wires, which are more efficient anyway.

 

[Luke Wells]

I charge my iPhone 8 on a $7 Qi pad from China. So far so good. It works flawlessly. Apple probably just recognizes that there's no money to be made here. What's the big deal?

 

[NKD]

well they also probably realized not a lot of people were buying it when you get so many of these on amazon. Decent brands for less than 40 bucks. I got the rav power 4 coil charger and it can work at multiple angels. Also I got the wireless samsung fast charger as well few months ago for free and gave it to wife and she has been charging her iphone X with it for last few months with no problems. I plan on using the ravpower charger with my new iPhone Xs Max. seriously i would have never bought the apple charger anyways. May be that is one thing apple failed at. Well if they could build their own proprietary wireless tech it would be a different story but it wasn't probably worth it lol!

 

[Trimlock]

I charge my iPhone 8 on a $7 Qi pad from China. So far so good. It works flawlessly. Apple probably just recognizes that there's no money to be made here. What's the big deal?

I didn't want the pad but my wife did, phone + watch recharging on the nightstand was appealing to her, but now she just has to suffer with the smaller belkin she bought lol.

I only have the phone so I had no intention of buying it.

 

[zehoo]

I imagine they haven’t quite worked out how to make people overpay yet in the marketing department.

Or maybe there was only 1 guy working on it and they shifted him over to be the 1 guy engineering the Mac Pro tower replacement.

 

[N4CR]

They ditched the headphone jack "because they could make the phone thinner" I'm guessing they hardware needed to make it charge wirelessly could also in theory add girth to the phone.

Pulled my V10 to bits few days ago, I was astonished to see how damn small those jacks really are and laughed that they remove them for... an unnoticeable 1mm reduction in thickness? Less battery? FFS.
They're shorter than the damn headphones conductor! They are fiddly little tiny things.

 

[Mchart]

My guess is that they couldn’t get it to work at a decent price point, and at this point most people have multiple $10 pads from amazon anyways.

It was a cool idea though, being able to charge multiple devices on a single pad without worrying about orientation.

 

[nilepez]

Pulled my V10 to bits few days ago, I was astonished to see how damn small those jacks really are and laughed that they remove them for... an unnoticeable 1mm reduction in thickness? Less battery? FFS.
They're shorter than the damn headphones conductor! They are fiddly little tiny things.
View attachment 104491

I don't get the fascination with thin. The iphone 6, 7 and 8 Plus models weren't that think to begin with and like you said, a mm or 2 isn't going to matter. Besides, everyone is tossing their phones into cases, so a mm or 2 is even less noticeable. With the new iPhones, you basically have to buy lighting port to headphone jack (and I'll have to get one that has a lightning port too, so I can charge and listen on long trips).

My guess is that they couldn’t get it to work at a decent price point, and at this point most people have multiple $10 pads from amazon anyways.
It was a cool idea though, being able to charge multiple devices on a single pad without worrying about orientation.

But if you're only charging one device, why not just use a cable? Saves money, saves energy and charges faster. I'm all for convenience, but replacing several chargers/cables with several charging pads makes no sense to me. What am I missing?

 

[Mchart]

I don't get the fascination with thin. The iphone 6, 7 and 8 Plus models weren't that think to begin with and like you said, a mm or 2 isn't going to matter. Besides, everyone is tossing their phones into cases, so a mm or 2 is even less noticeable. With the new iPhones, you basically have to buy lighting port to headphone jack (and I'll have to get one that has a lightning port too, so I can charge and listen on long trips).



But if you're only charging one device, why not just use a cable? Saves money, saves energy and charges faster. I'm all for convenience, but replacing several chargers/cables with several charging pads makes no sense to me. What am I missing?

The pads are awesome. One in the kitchen, one at work, one next to bed. Never plug in anymore.

 

[nilepez]

The pads are awesome. One in the kitchen, one at work, one next to bed. Never plug in anymore.

I guess I figure I can have a cord by the bed and one at work and I'm good. I'm not unwilling to try it, but for a single device, I'm not sure what it saves me vs a few lightning cables. PC can change a phone, the one by the bed can charge a device (technically 2).

Again, if I had multiple devices that I could charge and the pad can do that, I could see the point...also think it might make sense for a smart watches (but I've never used one, so it's a guess).

 

[blandead]

But if you're only charging one device, why not just use a cable? Saves money, saves energy and charges faster. I'm all for convenience, but replacing several chargers/cables with several charging pads makes no sense to me. What am I missing?

Your USB port on the phone does break eventually, and it's really hard to replace since you can't remove battery. So less wear and tear on that.

Also your underestimating the convenience, especially at work. If your busy, you're not going to care about plugging your phone in for fifteen minutes.

 

[nilepez]

Your USB port on the phone does break eventually, and it's really hard to replace since you can't remove battery. So less wear and tear on that. Also your underestimating the convenience, especially at work. If your busy, you're not going to care about plugging your phone in for fifteen minutes.

I've never had one go bad and my oldest current phone is 4 years old. Most phones aren't used that long.
I"ll add that my oldest non-smart phone is a 14 year old flipper and it also has no issues (though obviously it's not a usb or lightning port).

 

[Trimlock]

I've never had one go bad and my oldest current phone is 4 years old. Most phones aren't used that long.
I"ll add that my oldest non-smart phone is a 14 year old flipper and it also has no issues (though obviously it's not a usb or lightning port).

I’m right there with you as not understanding the convenience either. I never cared that I had to plug in my device to charge.

 

[ND40oz]

I've been using a few Anker wireless chargers for my iPhone 8. They work fine!
I did read that heat might be an issue with what Apple was going to develop. I've never noticed any excess heat from my Anker chargers (although keep in mind, I'm just charging my phone).

Supposedly the issue was Apple was trying to make the entire AirPad capable of charging devices instead of having localized spots on it for each device. Instead of having to make sure your devices were lined up with a coil on the pad, they were using overlapping coils which contributed to both heat issues and communication issues.