After No Sign of AirPower at Today's Event Apple Wipes Most Mentions From Website

[Abazigal]

https://mobile.twitter.com/gruber/status/1039982238354497537?s=20

Don’t know if anyone has linked this, but it seems the issue behind AirPower is that the company Apple acquired specifically for its AirPower tech seems to be a dud, and simply couldn’t deliver.

It could be that AirPower may end up never hitting the market.

 

[Morgenland]

Meanwhile at Samsung for 2yrs now...

View attachment 781100

And this ugliness fuelled Apple's marketing....
When marketing dictates the development of a company, it is quickly at an end.

Samsung (including the Galaxy S7 Edge) sticks with micro USC instead of a reversible port.
Which you will plug in wrong in every second attempt. This is annoying and therefore one can lure the customer with claimed freedom even if the charging takes longer due to physical reasons within the contactless tech.

And looks like crap.

 

[Analog Kid]

I always love AirPower threads. I've never seen so many people so upset that they can't yet buy something they think is under featured and over priced...

https://mobile.twitter.com/gruber/status/1039982238354497537?s=20

Don’t know if anyone has linked this, but it seems the issue behind AirPower is that the company Apple acquired specifically for its AirPower tech seems to be a dud, and simply couldn’t deliver.

It could be that AirPower may end up never hitting the market.

Apple is usually better at their due diligence than that, but nobody gets it right every time. It is starting to feel like there's a wrinkle to the tech that Apple (or their PowerByProxi acquisition) just can't sort out. Trying to control the power delivery to multiple disparate devices is surely a trick but they must have been close to both buy the company and publicly announce.

I've had the feeling there was a regulatory issue somewhere, but I now wonder if they needed to change the phone side of the hardware, meaning AirPower won't work with the original iPhone 8 and X-- so they are delaying the release to ease the blowback...

 

[Bacillus]

Perhaps. They are, after all, you know, a business.

I always love AirPower threads. I've never seen so many people so upset that they can't yet buy something they think is under featured and over priced...


Apple is usually better at their due diligence than that, but nobody gets it right every time. It is starting to feel like there's a wrinkle to the tech that Apple (or their PowerByProxi acquisition) just can't sort out. Trying to control the power delivery to multiple disparate devices is surely a trick but they must have been close to both buy the company and publicly announce.

I've had the feeling there was a regulatory issue somewhere, but I now wonder if they needed to change the phone side of the hardware, meaning AirPower won't work with the original iPhone 8 and X-- so they are delaying the release to ease the blowback...

Indeed, nobody realizes it is soooo difficult to create 3 separate power circuits at that premium price that only other companies do it for half
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https://mobile.twitter.com/gruber/status/1039982238354497537?s=20

Don’t know if anyone has linked this, but it seems the issue behind AirPower is that the company Apple acquired specifically for its AirPower tech seems to be a dud, and simply couldn’t deliver.

It could be that AirPower may end up never hitting the market.

And it is too far to the nearest Ikea (/OEM) to go buy and license something

 

[Abazigal]

Indeed, nobody realizes it is soooo difficult to create 3 separate power circuits at that premium price that only other companies do it for half

If you have read the twitter thread that I linked, you will realise that airpower is more than just 3 wireless chargers glued together. Maybe Apple did bite off more than they could chew here. That in no way diminishes what they were trying to achieve here, nor does it elevate the shortcuts that their competitors took.

 

[recoil80]

I knew it was baloney. An induction mat is too simple.

RF based charging is what they’re actually working on. Mark my words.

You mean something like this?
http://energous.com/

Yes, it would be truly wireless and would be way better than having a pad connected to a plug. But if that's was their goal why did they announce AirPower in the first place?
They promised it by the end of 2018 and if they were close to that goal they would have announced a release date on stage, so I think it will come in 2019 and they'll talk about it again when they're ready. They might as well sell it with a press release in the middle of next year.

 

[sunwukong]

This is exactly why Apple should not mention future products until they are actually ready. That is why Steve was so secretive, but things are clearly different nowadays.

Yup. And this is part of why they used to be able to say, "and it is available TODAY", which capitalized on the momentum and hype of the event to juice initial sales, but also helped instill confidence in their ability to produce. Since those days things have gradually slipped. Yes, of course, they had things that they announced but said were coming later, eg original Rev A Bondi Blue iMac, the iPhone, but they ALSO would often, maybe even every time, have something announced that was available as soon as the event concluded. Not anymore. Things have slipped so far now that they announce something that is a YEAR away, maybe to fill up otherwise bland slate of announcements, and then fail to deliver 'on time'.
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Removed almost all traces from website. It’s dead.

And yet the 2013 trash can Mac Pro is still up. I don't get it. Is like they are unwilling to remove it altogether. They really ought to just drop it from physical display at stores as well as website if they are going to ignore it for 5+ years. I'm embarrassed for them when I see that 2013 model at the store, albeit not prominently displayed. Is sad.

 

[Bacillus]

If you have read the twitter thread that I linked, you will realise that airpower is more than just 3 wireless chargers glued together. Maybe Apple did bite off more than they could chew here. That in no way diminishes what they were trying to achieve here, nor does it elevate the shortcuts that their competitors took.

There is no Twitter feed that can explain the unnecessary complication of producing a charger that several companies can deliver at a fraction of Apple’s price.
There is no excuse for not being able to contract such an OEM in a year’s time.
So if I were you, I wouldn’t even try to restore the credibility of a self-pronounced, selfsteering carmaker not being able to construct a homey charger (whether the biggest company in the world or not)
Because it is just as inexcusable as ludicrous - and gets more tragic every day of neglect that passes by.

 

[Abazigal]

There is no Twitter feed that can explain the unnecessary complication of producing a charger that several companies can deliver at a fraction of Apple’s price.

But the whole point is precisely that no other company has managed to deliver exactly what Apple is trying to do here with Airpower either, much less for cheaper.

 

[Bacillus]

But the whole point is precisely that no other company has managed to deliver exactly what Apple is trying to do here with Airpower either, much less for cheaper.

Because they don’t overpromise/underdeliver (lesson 1 for business school apprentices)

 

[Abazigal]

Because they don’t overpromise/underdeliver (lesson 1 for business school apprentices)

You are not making any sense here.

First, you claim that there are other companies who are able to do what Apple couldn't (make airpower) at a fraction of the price.

Then when I point out that no other company has in fact managed this, you say that this is because they don't overpromise.

These two arguments are contradictory and mutually exclusive.

So which is it now?

 

[Bacillus]

You are not making any sense here.
First, you claim that there are other companies who are able to do what Apple couldn't (make airpower) at a fraction of the price.
Then when I point out that no other company has in fact managed this, you say that this is because they don't overpromise.
These two arguments are contradictory and mutually exclusive.
So which is it now?

The point is that most accessory makers can - if they’d even want it - make 3 separate circuited chargers with the same functionality as the AirPower - without the overpromising, unnecessary complications, all the fuzz, FUD and bad PR around it.
Happy waiting.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

Based on how wireless charging currently works, I suspect they have faced problems related with proper positioning the device to be charged (Apple wants the users to place it wherever they want), overcharging other devices (which is usually prevented at the device itself), but the biggest problems may have been heat and fire hazard.

Apple may try again until they figure it out. In the meantime, you can buy several wireless chargers for the price of one AirPower charging mat, so you can keep "each frog to its own Lilly Pad".

 

[MacBH928]

I honestly rather have a functioning solid product than something that half works...
Their fault was announcing it

 

[albebaubles]

It includes charging for the watch, which has a magnetic component and is not standard Qi charging.

To be honest, the watch charger works for Qi devices...I found we could use it for our custom medical device's charging.
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I know people don't like the "Steve wouldn't have done this" but damn, the 'Pre Tim Cook' Apple didn't announce things over a year before they're actually available for anyone to buy.

White phone

 

[routine_analyst]

You mean like the original iPhone? Or did you just conveniently omit that because it doesn’t suit your cause?

Do your research. Yeah, the device wasn't 100% complete but the device had to be announced so that the FCC/Cingular didn't do it for them.

 

[Vermifuge]

I think at a certain point a company has to look at what it has spent on R&D and if they will ever recuperate that expense. AirPower was always a niche product that would be a solution the problem no one really cares about. At least not enough to go buy another Qi charger. Especially if the price was more than the market can bear. Sure, the convenience would be nice but was it ever worth the purported price? Also consider AirPods users would need to buy a new case. And users of Apple Watch's metal bands would have to remove the link or Milanese loop to allow charging.

Apple is doing the smart thing here. AirPower dead and buried (ALL references have been removed including the last remaining imagine on the AirPod page.)

That said I'm excited for what whatever Apple will direct its Money & Recorces into next.

 

[justperry]

Or...just maybe this whole thing was a big lie from the beginning, can't release an iPhone that is just Qi enabled like others have had for years, so they "invented" this Airpower mat and everyone believed in it.

 

[Vermifuge]

Or...just maybe this whole thing was a big lie from the beginning, can't release an iPhone that is just Qi enabled like others have had for years, so they "invented" this Airpower mat and everyone believed in it.

Did you notice the Mission Impossible Video had a demonstration of the of the HeySiri AirPods?

FF to 43 sec

This products was likely delayed because the AirPods Qi case was likely deemed a no-go along with AirPower. But it seems obvious to me, Apple intended to launch the HeySire AirPods at this event.