Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Officially Cancels AirPower
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
It certainly looks like that's the case. I assure you the AirPower idea didn't came either from an electrical engineer or a physicist.
I hear you, and I love Nomad too. Great company. I hope they continue to succeed.
The Nomad, however, does not work the same way that AirPower was going to work (so we believe). Nomad's wireless charging pad requires you to line up the device on the pad in a particular orientation and in a particular placement on the pad (the Watch charger on the Nomad is different because you can only place the watch in that one spot), so it requires the user to guess the placement (and granted, once you use it a few times, you get the hang of it). I've had the Nomad charging pad and others, and they all have this feature. Some work better than others.
Other than the "you're holding it wrong" marketing debacle, Apple would likely not release a product that required you to place something "just so" unless it was clearly marked on the device (i.e. Smart Keyboard case for iPad Pro).
Apple was not trying to mirror the Nomad or others (and again, I love Nomad as a company, so this is not a knock on them), as that is not a great experience. Apple was instead trying to create a pad that has yet to be invented, one that allows you to place you Apple Watch, AirPods, iPhone or any other Qi charging device in whatever orientation you want, on any place on the pad that you want, and have it charge. One reason charging pads have not taken off is this current limitation of having to place the device perfect on the pad. If it's off just slightly, it won't charge, and you likely won't realize it until you pick it up and see it didn't charge.
And now we are seeing why no other company has gotten this to work, because it's genuinely difficult. Apple spends years developing and engineering its products, and normally does not release them until it's exactly what they want. It's sad they could not make this work, as it would have been a game changer and it would have sold like crazy.
WOW. Immediately after releasing wireless charging Airpods... which people (not me) would have specifically bought with Airpower charging in mind.
And if anyone bought 2nd Gen AirPods even somewhat because AirPower was allegedly coming, those people were fools. AirPower has been MIA for over a year.
Why does everyone on this damn site have to be on troll duty? F-ing snarky remarks about everything. Miserable people.
This has *nothing* to do with cash. It has everything to do with perfecting the engineering behind this product, which posed its problems. And If It’s so simple as you noted in your post, then why hasn’t any other manufacturer really developed Apples form of a wireless charger where you can place the device anywhere to charge without a specific contact point like other wireless chargers require? The fact that Apple abandoned this, obviously provided that it has his technical difficulties. Why release the product if it’s not ready for mass adoption? It’s better that Apple terminated this project versus release something that could potentially have problems or faults that would make them even look worse.
It does make you wonder how safe these knock off airpower looking clones are that you see on Facebook and eBay? If Apple can’t make it work (and they’ve got all the money in the world) I’d be very nervous about having one of those on multi device wireless chargers on my nightstand!
Forget the AirPower or reliable laptop keyboards. There’s nothing to be worried about. They’ve got Oprah, man!
of course, but we as a species have not yet cracked that barrier.
it's one step at a time. the fact that we can charge our devices inductively is just a step. technology doesn't just materialize in a vacuum and is often a result of incremental upgrades to tech
We may need a pad today. But next year could be within 1ft. than a few years later 5ft, than maybe 20 years later, same room.
Expecting us though to g from needing a full thick wire plugged directly in, to walking around the street getting charged is a delusional dream that ignores the reality of how technology is innovated one step at time.
So they’ve included support in the phone for a technology they feel isn’t ready for prime time?
This is poor. Don't announce till it's ready. Really poor show. I'm really sorry if these seems like a lazy post but if "someone" was still around, this would be in the shops already and would be insanely great or....would never have seen the light of day and certainly never been announced.....just saying......
You do realize that Apple has dedicated engineer teams to specific projects? It’s not like every engineer was working on the Air power and not some other product. I believe Apple has a league of engineers spread out accordingly to work on future products, and not just focus on one accessory.
they're not knock off
They use the existing Qi standard which has been pretty tried and tested. The devices out today that support 2-3 devices are just 2-3 coils side by side. Apple was trying to do everything via a single coil, which doesn't exist yet.
As long as you're not buying some off brand Qi charger, you're most likely perfectly safe having one on your nightstand.
It was 3 months overdue, 18 months since they teased it. It’s possible they’ll do a conventional three-device charger, but I don’t think so.
No, the actual knock offs that are not just 2-3 coils side by side. The ones that allow you to charge anywhere on the mat. However that appears to still be in the kickstarter phase and not actually released.
