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AirPower: Is Apple's Work on Multi-Device Wireless Charging Solutions Continuing?

What a complete embarrassment for Apple.

One of the World’s largest companies with more cash than most countries, and they miss their date by more than one year.

There’s no excuse! This is known technology. Nothing groundbreaking or new to the industry.

Apple has clearly lost their way. They’ve forgotten how to innovate...
 
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djnewlin said:
What a complete embarrassment for Apple.

One of the World’s largest companies with more cash than most countries, and they miss their date by more than one year.

There’s no excuse! This is known technology. Nothing groundbreaking or new to the industry.

Apple has clearly lost their way. They’ve forgotten how to in innovate...
Click to expand...
It’s January, how in the world have you come to the conclusion they missed their deadline by an entire year?
 
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NT1440 said:
It’s January, how in the world have you come to the conclusion they missed their deadline by an entire year?
Click to expand...

They announced it September 12, 2017! Everyone else has come out with wireless chargers since then. They act like they’re inventing something new and innovative. Hardly...
 
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I’m sure it is way better than most of the cheapo chargers on the market, but at the suggested Apple Tax price point, one would be best off buying some AirPods and skipping this thing, unless you just like throwing money away.
 
Apple hasn’t lost its way.

The AW series 4 is crushing it. AirPods are selling well and most AirPod owners are highly satisfied. HomePod had a rough launch, but it has improved a lot and people love the sound quality. The 2017 iPhone X and all the 2018 iPhones with their once ridiculed but now widely copied notch, mostly excellent FaceID, crazy powerful chips, and industry-leading cameras are rightly seen as being among the very best smart phones ever made.

Lastly, take iPad. For the high end of the market, Apple has an iPad Pro model that is ridiculously powerful and has arguably the best screen on any tablet or laptop, or close to it. For average users, Apple’s $329 iPad is super capable and works with Apple Pencil.

For people who like quality gear but aren’t able or willing to buy Apple’s top of the line stuff, Apple has options. The AW series 3 and iPhone 7/8 are extremely capable devices at (by Apple standards) affordable price points.

I agree with you that AirPower is a huge misfire and will almost certainly come out with a near ridiculous price. I won’t buy one.

But even if Apple vastly overestimated the market for a high priced multi device charging mat, and pulls AirPower after disappointing sales, Apple still has far more hits than misses imho.

djnewlin said:
What a complete embarrassment for Apple.

One of the World’s largest companies with more cash than most countries, and they miss their date by more than one year.

There’s no excuse! This is known technology. Nothing groundbreaking or new to the industry.

Apple has clearly lost their way. They’ve forgotten how to innovate...
Click to expand...
 
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djnewlin said:
They announced it September 12, 2017! Everyone else has come out with wireless chargers since then. They act like they’re inventing something new and innovative. Hardly...
Click to expand...

They’re introducing a product that is unique to the market by expanding the Qi standard for a use that isn’t possible yet - I think they can be excited and call it new.
 
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Many companies have released great wireless options that can charge multiple items and Apple did lose a lot of ground, it’s still difficult to dismiss this product. What is getting lost in the conversation is the interface of AirPower. I’m unsure how the other other chargers handle maximizing the charging order but the slick interface (assuming it works as shown) is the a big selling point that sets it apart. But as someone mentioned previously if this isn’t priced reasonably it won’t succeed. Then again everyone made fun of AirPods and the notch.
 
Is it just me or did apple just mention the AirPower??????
9966C140-5EE3-421E-9505-6889A7375B07.png
 
djnewlin said:
What a complete embarrassment for Apple.

One of the World’s largest companies with more cash than most countries, and they miss their date by more than one year.

There’s no excuse! This is known technology. Nothing groundbreaking or new to the industry.

Apple has clearly lost their way. They’ve forgotten how to innovate...
Click to expand...

You’re comparing a steak from a big box fast food chain to that from a highly specialized Michelin rated steakhouse. I hope my analogy makes sense. Yes there are a ton of cheapo Qi chargers, but not do what the AirPower is promising to do.
 
roland.g said:
I’m sure it is way better than most of the cheapo chargers on the market, but at the suggested Apple Tax price point, one would be best off buying some AirPods and skipping this thing, unless you just like throwing money away.
Click to expand...

a charger charges ... even the cheapest - how can it be better?
your comment makes not the most sense to me!
 
Romeo_Nightfall said:
a charger charges ... even the cheapest - how can it be better?
your comment makes not the most sense to me!
Click to expand...

It makes no sense to you what that member said, because you don’t understand the Airpowers main feature. This isn’t like any other charger, you can place the device anywhere to physically charge without having to set it on a certain contact point for to charge properly. It doesn’t mean it’s ‘better’, it means it’s different in that sense.
 
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All I’m wondering is how many users choose to charge all of their devices at the same time?

It would be fun however if the AirPower mat could show you the charge level of the devices charging even if your phone wasn’t on or near it.
 
djnewlin said:
What a complete embarrassment for Apple.

One of the World’s largest companies with more cash than most countries, and they miss their date by more than one year.

There’s no excuse! This is known technology. Nothing groundbreaking or new to the industry.

Apple has clearly lost their way. They’ve forgotten how to innovate...
Click to expand...

You don't know anything about electronics. It does use coils - that's the only similarity with at market wireless chargers.
 
The only mildly convienient features of Airpower is that the iPhone will show battery status, and that it will also charge the Apple Watch (but then nightstand mode isn't usable), in which there are already Qi+ AW chargers on the market..

Placing it anywhere on the mat? Who cares? There are 3 coil Qi chargers out there already; you can't hit a usually, clearly, marked out charging target when putting the phone/airpods case down?

Not worth the disgusting price Apple is going to slap on this imo.
 
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roncron said:
Apple hasn’t lost its way.

The AW series 4 is crushing it. AirPods are selling well and most AirPod owners are highly satisfied. HomePod had a rough launch, but it has improved a lot and people love the sound quality. The 2017 iPhone X and all the 2018 iPhones with their once ridiculed but now widely copied notch, mostly excellent FaceID, crazy powerful chips, and industry-leading cameras are rightly seen as being among the very best smart phones ever made.

Lastly, take iPad. For the high end of the market, Apple has an iPad Pro model that is ridiculously powerful and has arguably the best screen on any tablet or laptop, or close to it. For average users, Apple’s $329 iPad is super capable and works with Apple Pencil.

For people who like quality gear but aren’t able or willing to buy Apple’s top of the line stuff, Apple has options. The AW series 3 and iPhone 7/8 are extremely capable devices at (by Apple standards) affordable price points.

I agree with you that AirPower is a huge misfire and will almost certainly come out with a near ridiculous price. I won’t buy one.

But even if Apple vastly overestimated the market for a high priced multi device charging mat, and pulls AirPower after disappointing sales, Apple still has far more hits than misses imho.
Click to expand...

Excellent points. Well said.

As you can tell, I’m frustrated by their inability to deliver on their announcements. Certainly not all of them.

I’d love to upgrade to the OLED screen of the XS. But to be honest, I have mixed feelings about the whole facial recognition feature. It feels like a solution looking for a problem.

I find the finger ID on the home button to be very intuitive and easy to use. I can keep my eyes on the road and press and hold the Home button and have Siri text, call, etc. I don’t like having “Hey Siri” always on. Too many falses. And I certainly don’t want to pick up my iPhone while I’m driving so it can see my face.

I feel like identifying the unmet needs and delivering solutions has shifted to more of how thin can a product be. I mean who cares? Most of us put our iPhones and iPads in protective cases anyways, diluting the “value” of shaving a few mm off the thickness.

D
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iPhysicist said:
You don't know anything about electronics. It does use coils - that's the only similarity with at market wireless chargers.
Click to expand...
No need for personal attacks. You don’t know me or my background.

So please elaborate. What technology is unique in the upcoming Apple Wireless Mat? Inductive coils? No. Qi electronics? No. Stacking these existing technologies?

And do people really want to put all 3 products on a single charger mat? What’s the end user value proposition? Personally I like having a wireless charger for my iPhone 8 on my night stand, and my watch downstairs next to my wallet and keys.

D
 
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Binarymix said:
The only mildly convienient features of Airpower is that the iPhone will show battery status, and that it will also charge the Apple Watch (but then nightstand mode isn't usable), in which there are already Qi+ AW chargers on the market..

Placing it anywhere on the mat? Who cares? There are 3 coil Qi chargers out there already; you can't hit a usually, clearly, marked out charging target when putting the phone/airpods case down?

Not worth the disgusting price Apple is going to slap on this imo.
Click to expand...

You could also say that Lightning was not worth the premium Apple charged for it, merely because the only advantage over micro-USB was that it could be inserted either way, and USB connections are clearly marked top and bottom. But I'll happily pay such a premium for something that improved my quality of life immeasurably, even if that's the only advantage I got from it.

Yes you can buy something cheaper with clearly marked out slots, that require manual orientation, but at the end of a long day, I really don't want just a contactless extension of the disparate cables I'm currently using ... I'll happily pay a bit more so I can just dump my devices any way they fall onto the pad without giving it a second thought and know they're all going to be ready to go when I am.

Your use cases may vary, so no, I would not necessarily use this on my bedside in nightstand mode -- though I'm not sure it can't be since we don't know how Apple engineered it to work. But it would be great on the kitchen counter, or in my office, or in a Hotel room.
 
If they bring this out i say well done. Maybe they shouldnt have mentioned it until they had designed it and sorted out the flaws but if it comes out and does what they say it will its a massive engineering acomplishment and i say well done apple. No one on earth has been able to create what they are going to do with this. Very impressive
 
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