dmccombs
macrumors 65816
I don't think so... How many folks that were waiting for the Airpower to come, will buy other chargers this weekend? Lots...
This announcement would be a funny April Fools prank by Apple, but a costly one.
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Apple Officially Cancels AirPower
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This announcement would be a funny April Fools prank by Apple, but a costly one.
Marco Klobas
macrumors 6502a
smorrissey
macrumors 68000
smorrissey
macrumors 68000
Don't worry we still have the old ipod touch 6 on sale for only 200 bucks...OMG
https://www.apple.com/ipod-touch/
https://www.apple.com/ipod-touch/
bigjnyc
Suspended
damn, now we'll never know what absurd and ridiculous price Apple was going to charge for this thing.
TheIntruder
macrumors 68020
What would have been distinguished the AirPower was the ability to randomly place the devices anywhere on the mat, and still have them charge properly.
Wireless chargers are sensitive to proper alignment; the coils in the charger and the coil in the device have to be in close proximity (in every axis, including z) for the inductive effect to optimally occur. Move that device slightly off the sweet spot, and it will stop charging.
Some existing chargers try to overcome this with multiple coils, with a slightly overlapped single layer, to lessen this need. That makes the sweet spots larger, but still doesn't allow for random placement.
What Apple was purportedly attempting to do was use multiple layers of coils, and surprise (!), found that it couldn't overcome the laws of physics. The normal process of inductive charging generates heat, and any metal object within the range of the coil also will "react" with it, such as keys, coins, etc, but also including other coils. Unintentionally creating a "hot plate" on one's desk is undesirable, so the charger has to somewhat intelligently detect unintended foreign objects and be conservative in shutting itself down for safety. The Qi charging/control protocol handles this.
Apple may have tried to overcome this with optimized coil placement in multiple layers, and some sort of sophisticated switching, but couldn't make it work.
The MRF peanut gallery will have its typical fun, but this was an engineering problem that would have been difficult for anyone to solve, not just Apple.
Edit--to add some perspective, those who say that their "XZY Charger" can already do this -- no, it can't, and it's not the same.
A typical wireless charger now on the market has a single coil. Some have two, or three, but none have more than a handful, at most. AirPower was rumored to have 22, which compounds and illustrates the complexity of the problem.
And, even if Apple was able to get it into a working state, where it performed decently and didn't serve as a mug warmer as a side function, and stopped leaving burn marks on the surface it rested on…that doesn't mean it would have necessarily passed muster with the FCC. These devices also generate RF, and must comply to interference regulations.
Apple can be rightly faulted for announcing an unfiniished, untested product and failing to successfully bring it to market. It can't be faulted for trying and failing.
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Apple is going to one day want us to place our family in a self-driving car. But charge 3 devices at once? Can’t do it.
WaxedJacket
macrumors 6502a
I'm still bitter over them ending the Airport lineup. At least they have a credit card now, said no one.
albebaubles
macrumors 6502a
Wouldn't there be ramifications regarding the affect this could have on the stock price?
4jasontv
Suspended
Is it illegal to announce a product you have no intention of selling in order to increase stock value? Is it illegal to encourage people to buy an existing product with claims that a revolutionary new product will be supported by it? Maybe those things are legal. It feels wrong, but what do I know.
Also, are class action lawsuits wrong or something? Companies should be held accountable for their behavior. Are pro-corporatocracy or something?
oneMadRssn
macrumors 603
When was the last time Apple announced entirely new hardware that was available that day? Or even that week? It seems to me that Apple used to not announce projects before they were ready, but today they make a habit of it. Heck they can't even get their services ready before they announce them. Last week they announced 4 services, and only 1 of them was available that day.
jessicaisin
macrumors newbie
arbi4ever
macrumors member
Apple credit card is not really innovating! I mean it's just a card like other cards with some percentage cash back and has nothing to do with certain innovating technology. Let's not be bias on this but I'm expecting more from a trillion dollar tech company. The last Apple event was their worst event with all those celebrities and Apple TV+. We already have many TV platforms with subscription services, it seems Apple wants to step into any industry and play a monopoly game with them, which I believe is not healthy.
antiprotest
macrumors 601
I guess they didn't want to have to replace a ton of batteries at a discount again due to the heat issues. Everyone knows that's why recently the new iPhone sales suddenly dropped. Wouldn't want that to happen again. </s>
smorrissey
macrumors 68000
idark77
macrumors 6502a