AirPower Cancelled Four Years Ago, But Remains on Apple's Long-Term Roadmap

[MacRumors]

Apple cancelled its planned AirPower accessory four years ago this week, but a similar solution is said to remain on the company's long-term roadmap.

Announced at the iPhone X event in 2017, AirPower was a wireless charging mat designed to charge an iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods case simultaneously, regardless of each device's position on the mat. Apple said the accessory would be available in 2018, but it never launched and was ultimately cancelled in a rare move by Apple.

"After much effort, we've concluded AirPower will not achieve our high standards and we have cancelled the project," said Apple's former hardware engineering chief Dan Riccio, in a statement shared on March 29, 2019. "We continue to believe that the future is wireless and are committed to push the wireless experience forward."

Apple never provided a specific reason for the cancellation, but it is believed that the overlapping charging coils inside the AirPower led to overheating.

In his newsletter last October, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said he still believes that an AirPower-like accessory will "eventually come to fruition," but it might be years away. In the meantime, the only multi-device charging mat sold by Apple is the MagSafe Duo Charger, which only works with two devices at once and has fixed charging positioning.

Article Link: AirPower Cancelled Four Years Ago, But Remains on Apple's Long-Term Roadmap

 

[HeavenDynamic]

Crazy thing is that, until minuts before the press release, we all thought that they were going to announce its availability

 

[NoelWalker]

In the meantime, Apple should update the MagSafe Duo with USB-C and AW fast charging. It would be even better if they also fix the camera bump alignment.

 

[CWallace]

Tesla and Nomad have something similar to what Air Power promised in their latest Qi charging mats, however they cannot charge an Apple Watch (nor wearables from many other companies that do not rely on the Qi standard). So it makes sense that Apple continues to research Air Power as a possible future device.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

I still don't understand the appeal of this concept. Why not just have three dedicated areas for each product? It would be virtually zero effort to place the product on a specific area of the pad rather than just anywhere - and let's face it, that 'anywhere' is confined to a small area anyway, in the event that you would actually need to charge three devices at a time.

 

[Analog Kid]

Is this on someone's anniversary calendar along with Steve's birth, death, first tooth, and day the iPhone launched?

It was cancelled 4 years ago. Why are we still talking about it? Because Gurman thinks it's still years away?

If it hasn't shipped by now and we're still hearing it might ship 10 years after it was announced, it's because some engineer somewhere in the bowels of Apple Park refuses to let go of his dreams...

"I work for Apple and a lot of us think the visor is a waste of time and we should really put that energy into finishing Air Power-- we're only one or two prototypes from getting it right, I'm sure of it." 🙄

 

[jmgregory1]

Beyond the likely overheating issue that comes with overlapping inefficient charging coils, this idea that consumers want to be able to set down their devices randomly onto a pad for charging wasn’t quite right from the beginning. Sure, we consumers would like to be able to set down our devices randomly on a nightstand, for example, and when we pick them up in the morning, they’re fully charged. But having to place 2-3 devices within a very limited space on a pad already forces you to have to line them up so they fit on the pad, negating the whole random placement idea.

And with Apple adding magnets to the Qi standard, it really kills the whole random placement charging concept, as each device is effectively self-aligned with the charging coils.

What I think remains strange for Apple to be doing is pushing wireless charging in the first place. It is far less efficient than a wired connection and that loss of energy is costing us (and the environment) money for almost zero benefit. It’s also not saving us time, as wired connections can offer much faster charging speeds. Imagine forgetting to charge your iPhone and in the morning having 8% battery left. You plug it into your fast charger and in 20 minutes (while you shower and get ready for work/school) your iPhone is fully charged. To me, that would be far more convenient than having to remember to set your iPhone onto the magnetic charging puck.

 

[appleguy123]

It seems like the low hanging fruit to make this work would be to make the Apple Watch charge by Qi instead of Apple’s proprietary solution. AirPower dupes without Watch support have existed for a long time and work well.

 

[jclardy]

I still don't understand the appeal of this concept. Why not just have three dedicated areas for each product? It would be virtually zero effort to place the product on a specific area of the pad rather than just anywhere - and let's face it, that 'anywhere' is confined to a small area anyway, in the event that you would actually need to charge three devices at a time.

Agreed - especially thinking about this logistically. I have iPhone, iPad, AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, Apple Watch Ultra and a Mac, basically the ideal target audience for this product.

But Mac, iPad and AirPods Max can't charge with it, so half the products are out. With the Ultra I either have to awkwardly flip the band inside out, or take the band off to charge it (Alpine Loop, or any other loop band.) So that leaves iPhone and AirPods Pro. I charge the iPhone every day, Airpods I just charge as needed at my desk with a lightning cable, as that is also where I charge the AirPods Max.

I just don't see how this solves any issues for anyone. The only way this makes sense is in some future where Mac/iPad/AirPods Max all have some new wireless charging protocol and can be used on the same charging mat, so you literally can charge any Apple device with it. As it stands though, the $40 magsafe puck can replace what I would use this for.

 

[nerdAFK]

Cyber Wireless Charger is everything Airpower couldn't be

Yes it's EXPENSIVE

Wireless Charging Platform

Inspired by the angular design and metallic styling of Cybertruck, our Wireless Charging Platform provides 15W of fast charging power per device for up to three devices simultaneously. Its sleek design is composed of an aluminum housing, premium alcantara surface and a detachable magnetic stand...

shop.tesla.com

 

[Gengar]

They should just remake this, only with MagSafe for the iPhone and AirPods plus a space for the Apple Watch.

 

[Hyperchaotic]

What I think remains strange for Apple to be doing is pushing wireless charging in the first place. It is far less efficient than a wired connection and that loss of energy is costing us (and the environment) money for almost zero benefit. It’s also not saving us time, as wired connections can offer much faster charging speeds. Imagine forgetting to charge your iPhone and in the morning having 8% battery left. You plug it into your fast charger and in 20 minutes (while you shower and get ready for work/school) your iPhone is fully charged. To me, that would be far more convenient than having to remember to set your iPhone onto the magnetic charging puck.

People always mention cost. So let's calculate the cost of charging:

Electricity here in BC is cheap:CAD 0.095/kWh. Let's say waving hand a phone use 20Wh charging and we do that once daily, that's (20*365) /1000 = 7.3kWh a year. so 7.3 * 0.095 amounts to $0.69. So it costs less than a dollar a year if you charge your phone daily - so rounding up crudely, let's say $1, for a year worth of phone charging.

Now with wireless charging if we say it's only 50% efficient (magsafe is a lot better actually, ~75%), we'd still sit at less than $2 for an entire year worth of charging.

So cost wise in the first world, it's not an issue. Energy wise, for a whole population ofcourse it's a bit more but it's many orders of magnitude less than dryer/washers, heating, ovens/stoves, air conditioners, EVs, etc. Phones are really nearly nothing in your home.

Anyway, I've use Qi since my Samsung GS6 and never had problems forgetting to charge and now Magsafe can add some extra juice in half an hour. So the crucial bit of your statement is "To me..." - that's exactly right, it's not good for some but that doesn't mean it's not good for anybody and that's why Apple and others like Samsung are offering it, a lot of people enjoy it.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

I don’t know, this product just doesn’t make sense to me in 2023.
Almost 6 years ago when it was introduced, it seemed really cool and futuristic, but… MagSafe Duo does the exact same thing in something that folds into like 1/5 the size of AirPower.
You can even charge the AirPods from the Watch side now, the only thing you can’t really do is charge all three at once but… How often is that going to happen anyway?
Also in 2017, it looked like Apple was trying to find any excuse they could to get rid of the port entirely from the iPhone.
Now they’re basically being forced to do the exact opposite.
And probably the coolest thing about AirPower, the animations that showed you the charge of all your devices, is now just a lock screen widget.
I cannot think of one advantage over MagSafe that an air power like device would have from Apple.
Now, a MagSafe Duo made out of aluminum instead of that terrible material it’s made out of now, fast watch charging and USB-C?
That’s the charger I want from Apple

 

[munpip214]

Apple needs to fully embrace GaN power supplies. That should be their priority over wireless charging.

 

[257Loner]

Apple could produce an "AirPower" wireless charging pad for their Magic Mouse and remove that awkward charging port on the bottom.

From this:

To this:

 

[paradox00]

AirPower as originally envisioned, is almost certainly dead at Apple. The Qi2 standard incorporates magnets like Magsafe does. Why would you build layers of coils that overheat when you could just have charging zones that devices snap to instead?

 

[CWallace]

I still don't understand the appeal of this concept. Why not just have three dedicated areas for each product? It would be virtually zero effort to place the product on a specific area of the pad rather than just anywhere - and let's face it, that 'anywhere' is confined to a small area anyway, in the event that you would actually need to charge three devices at a time.

One use case I can think of would be in a dark room at night so you don't need to identify the specific charging areas for each device. You just toss it on the mat and you're good to go.

Cyber Wireless Charger is everything Airpower couldn't be...

Except it will not charge an Apple Watch (or any other wearable that requires something other than Qi) like AirPower would have.

 

[crsh1976]

I still don't understand the appeal of this concept. Why not just have three dedicated areas for each product? It would be virtually zero effort to place the product on a specific area of the pad rather than just anywhere - and let's face it, that 'anywhere' is confined to a small area anyway, in the event that you would actually need to charge three devices at a time.

The main "anywhere" idea is to place a device without having to read or guess where device A needs to go vs device B because one has a different charging spec - exactly like charging drawers/mats in cars, just drop the device in that spot and it charges away (we all know it doesn't work all that seamlessly but the idea is there).

Magsafe aims to lessen the positioning issue for optimal fast charging, but that also makes "anywhere" impossible somehow.

 

[ThisBougieLife]

it might be years away

That is such a Gurman-type prediction.

The AirPower story is interesting in being one of the only examples of "vaporware" from Apple. It's also just strange that they displayed non-functioning versions at an event. Makes it seem like they decided to cancel it at the last minute and were close to releasing a flawed, overheating product. (I also remember part of the issue hypothesized to be the way the devices communicated with each other and displayed percentages while charging simultaneously).

 

[steevn]

I couldn’t even care less about this thing anymore considering all the other 3 in one chargers are like $150+ now and you just know Apples is going to be minimum starting price of $200.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea and some of the current ones out there but the pricing on them is outrageous.

We do have 2 of the Belkin MagSafe 3 in 1 Chargers on our nightstands but that’s only because we had Amazon gift cards and 30% off codes as well but damn these things are way too expensive.

 

[izzy0242mr]

I still don't understand the appeal of this concept. Why not just have three dedicated areas for each product? It would be virtually zero effort to place the product on a specific area of the pad rather than just anywhere - and let's face it, that 'anywhere' is confined to a small area anyway, in the event that you would actually need to charge three devices at a time.

People are lazy and Apple wants things to "just work" without much effort.

I don't like wireless charging (slow and inefficient and worse on battery health), but for those who do, it absolutely is an annoyance when you try to put your device onto the charger and it isn't aligned just right and you don't realize it and come back hours later to find it's not charged at all.

 

[Schizoid]

We need more solutions looking for problems!

 

[Analog Kid]

Why would you build layers of coils that overheat when you could just have charging zones that devices snap to instead?

I'm guessing someone said exactly this in a meeting one day and the project was dead within days.

It seems obvious now that we're used to MagSafe, but Apple is the first I've seen this technique used. The problem AirPower was trying to solve was how to charge multiple devices without multiple cords but not require careful placement of devices. If the device isn't well aligned with the coils, it doesn't charge efficiently. All the coils in AirPower were designed to ensure you had good efficiency anywhere, but apparently at the expense of not having good efficiency in the charge pad.

After spending months or years trying to solve that problem some smartass probably spouted "just use a magnet and be done" in a meeting and that was that.

 

[Tyler O'Bannon]

I was so excited about AirPower. Would have been awesome to have had it all these years. I have always had the 3 devices that it would support, including wireless charging on AirPods as soon as that was available. In fact, I got it in anticipation of AirPower. I really hope that it will see the light of day in some form or fashion. Even if it was more "MagSafe Trio" with specific MagSafe and Watch connections, still would be convenient.

 

[Take Flight]

What Apple really needs to solve (and I hope they are trying) is true-wireless charging. That would live up to the name AirPower.

Some type of wireless power technology that could live in HomePods and other always plugged in devices that is just slowly topping off your devices any time within range.

Would never need tether to a charger of any kind again.