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Apple Allegedly Continues to Work on AirPower-Like Charging Mat With A11 Chip to Prevent Overheating [Update: Images Fake]
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I'm printing this thread out on my Imagewriter II.
I'm using tractor feed paper. The single page feeder is busted...
I'm using tractor feed paper. The single page feeder is busted...
I'm looking at mine right now, and from what I can tell you can pull the tab up to keep it from being as slanted when resting on a flat surface. I don't have a Watch charger that's flat and not magnetic to test it though.
The other alternative is if the Airpower isn't too wide you can put the band around the Airpower, not an elegant solution though.
Especially Apple with their turtle 7.5W. Are they ever going to up it again? It's fine for overnight, but no way I am getting portless if they are still stuck in the stone age with that speed. And that's just the issue of speed. Wireless will need longer range and public availability to mainstream a portless device.
I have to imagine that their plans involve ditching the A8s in the ATV (perhaps the ATVHD itself) and HomePod in pretty short order.
There are some better options out there these days. Don't think I'd give this a consideration.
Doesn’t need “Pro” for older Mac users, it’s already got ”Power” right in the name ?
While I understand that the bid “advantage” to AirPower is that you can charge your watch, your phone and your airpods anywhere on the mat – is that really a compelling thing? I mean, is it that burdensome to hang your watch on the small pad dedicated to watches?
There are plenty of combination charging stands out there already, none of which cost what this one will go for.
There are plenty of combination charging stands out there already, none of which cost what this one will go for.
It's actually worse for the Watch than a lot of other charging stands because the bands can get in the way and be a nuisance but the other stands you easily wrap the watch band around it.
On the other hand it's a flat charging pad, so it can be easily transported in a laptop bag, so if it's not too heavy or too large a footprint it could be used in more "mobile" situations (bring it to a hotel room, etc). Buuuut for mobility just having a few cables and a multiport USB charger is easier (and iPhone charging wouldn't be limited to 7.5 watts).
Simplicity through technology is always the desired result. The point of this isn't to place a phone, AirPods, and a watch — it's whatever you want in whatever combination (two phones and a watch, three watches and Airpods, three AirPods and a phone) depending on who in the house needs to charge something. I see this on an island countertop, an entry-way table, or somewhere else high traffic where family members and just drop their stuff to charge. Things shift and slide due to the finish of a phone case, or the table gets bumped, and then all of a sudden the phone isn't fully charged when you needed it in the morning and you have to go find an alternate way to charge. That's happened to me a few times where my phone slipped off my Qi charger at night, just enough to misalign and not charge. That's what this aims to overcome. That makes for a better experience, not just more of what you are used to. I appreciate the efforts.
It's not about being it burdensome — any more than going into your Bluetooth settings to pair AirPods — it's just more convenient, which is what jumps in tech are supposed to help with.
A8 is in the HomePod and AppleTV HD, A10 is in the iPad and iPod.
I can see it going either way - considering the ATV4/HD is approaching 5 years old I don't see it being around much longer, and the HomePod or it's replacement could easily use a different chip, but considering the A8 gets the job done (in the products it is still used in) and is comparatively cheap to make Apple's main driver for dropping it would be long term software support.
This makes sense that this would be an ideal use-case (especially given lack of Apple Watch nighstand mode), but if it's ~$250, that's a really expensive "main-floor" charging mat.
As others have said, given Apple's absence in the market, a lot of good 3rd party options have come up. I personally use the Nomad Base Station w/ Apple Watch on my nightstand. Allows me to charge iPhone + Airpods + Apple Watch in nighstand mode in a really nice, clean compact footprint.
I also got it for $75 on a Best Buy sale over a year ago, which was the right price point for me. If this is indeed $250, I think not worth the value prop for me.
That would be rather foolish on their part. The sport loops are probably the most popular band behind the sport band. Apple has never been one to neglect compatibility like that. The leather and silicon iPhone cases have an open bottom specifically so they are compatible with the docking station.
That said, I wouldn't be totally surprised if it was a "Series 6" exclusive feature where the watch could be charged wireless on its side.
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Totally agree — I get that there will be a lot of engineering involved to get this to market but they waited too long to charge that price. If Qi chargers hadn't gotten so ubiquitous, they could have come in swinging into that market but they missed the boat. Now they need to adopt the strategy of "why you should buy this instead of keeping what you have already bought in the meantime" and price will affect the potency of that strategy.
That's a great product and for one person, it's all you would need. I have a Morphie charge pad on my desk, a low-watt popup Qi charger from Ikea that's made to fit in a cable management hole of a desk (I installed it into my nightstand, perfect for slow, overnight charging), and I had a friend 3D print an Apple IIe that houses the Apple watch's puck charger that houses my watch like it's screen in nightstand mode — all of this is awesome as a solution for myself.
The difference here — and it may not have value for everyone — is when you have a crap-ton of devices and a bunch of people who haphazardly drop stuff on a charger and don't look to see if it lined up correctly, this has the potential to correct human error. But I think for Apple this is bigger than just that. This is the first time they have had to unannounced something — they are motivated to get this right — and also, this problem's inevitable solution could lead to improvements in power management throughout their product line. SO while it may not result in an earth-shattering product, an innovation here can affect their products for years to come.
I generally can't see the appeal of such a product, cause the limitations of speed in wireless charging limits any interest. The miserable non design all the more. It is not the product design of a trillion dollar company. And certainly not driven by the technical wing of the Apple board.
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I don't know, I have no issue with the design — it doesn't need to be moulded or sculpted into a particular shape — if it works as intended then being discreet and lacking device-specific zones just emphasizes that there would be no wrong way to use it to charge whatever you need to charge. A lot of Apple's designs are understated in that way (AirPods case, Magic Mouse, the AirPort devices, iPhone Docks, Power adaptors). I think the point of it is to be understated. With that said though, no one is ever going to universally like one design, so your mileage may vary. $250 though would be a non-starter for me. Not now when you have to convince people this is better than what they have already bought when it died the first time.
I'd prefer to drop the Watch charger, personally. I'm fine with the cable personally.
