Apple Officially Cancels AirPower

[dampfnudel]

I guess Apple learned a valuable lesson, one it should’ve probably already known and that is to make sure you have a product you know works AND can be mass-produced before announcing it to the world. Really common sense if you think about it. Let’s hope this isn’t a sign of things to come as Apple and its manufacturing partners may be running into walls with some technologies in the future, in particular getting smaller than 7/5nm with the iPhone/iPad processors.

 

[UltimateSyn]

Word was they got too hot. Way too hot. They probably could've made it if it had case fans blowing when on full power but that would be "un-Apple-like".

Liquid-cooled AirPower for the low price of $1299!!

 

[pat500000]

Dang that's scary actually, I could see this happening on the Mac Pro "We don't know how to glue or solder it enough and have it be modular at the same time"

That’s when i’m gonna have to re-innovate apple’s ass.

 

[4jasontv]

But my point is, if you had slots where each device fit into (phone, watch, airpods) that would seem imo just as easy as putting your device anywhere.

Your'e not suggesting a bad product, but really that is just a dock. It would have to be replaced when you upgrade, and it doesn't work with other devices people might have.

 

[alextu]

Another stupid comment. The entire reason their execution failed in this case was because they were being too innovative and trying to do something nobody has done before.

If everything they did was easy, then that would show they might not be being innovative. Hell, iPhone didn't work when Steve demonstrated it.

how about don't announce it until you have the actual device ready? instead of announcing it and then say oh we are sorry, we can not overcome the technological challenges.

 

[fredrik9]

Turns out, airpower was literally air.

 

[davester]

Don’t worry folks, it will debut alongside the PowerBook G5.

 

[Anandc]

Everybody needs to chill out and understand why it wasn't possible for Apple to release AirPower (Not taking Apple's side, kindly read full post).

Many wireless chargers can charge upto 2 devices. But the reality is very different. Most of the wireless chargers heat up the device even when 1 device is charged, unless it's Qi-Certified, it's a different story.

But charging 2 devices on a wireless charger definitely heats up the device and that is bad for the battery.

I was not sure how Apple would solve this but I did have faith in a company who invest the highest amount in R&D than any other company today. But I guess even they couldn't reach to that point where the heat issue can go away.

I think it's now more about time and technology when we will have a true wireless charger which is safe and good.

Credits to Apple to try something which nobody in the market has done without any problems. I have still not come across a wireless charger which can charge upto 3 devices - iPhone, AirPods & Apple Watch. I am not sure how good are wireless charger which charges 2 devices at the same time but I would have loved to have Apple AirPower since I have iPhone, New AirPods & Apple Watch.

Yes, it's disappointing but they tried

 

[davester]

It's time for tim  to take a vacation

His mind has been on vacation for a while

 

[KGBguy]

Well, try again in 10 years.

 

[alextu]

Let me add one thing. "Didn't meet our exceptions" is a corporate talk for "we couldn't' figure out how to make it work and rushed the announcement." This is an embarrassing blunder and to try to spin it as something positive doesn't really makes sense to me. All this marketing. All this hype. All for a product that was never finished and nowhere ready for the market.

let me add another thing, we will wait for samsung and others to figure it out first and then we will release
it after

 

[Wildkraut]

Thats ridiculous the largest company in the world couldn't build a charging pad.

Well at least they don’t release it, and light up your house, like other large companies do.

 

[oldmacs]

I’m actually shocked! I thought it would eventually come.

 

[trifid]

Dang this Nomad Base Station looks amazing and functionally better than Airpower! Look at the Apple Watch how it stays into place magnetically, better that the Airpower idea which could slip off. And it has 3 coils, it seems to work pretty well with any placement.

 

[Shanghaichica]

[doublepost=1553923540][/doublepost]

And it was precisely this stupid idea (which is not technically feasible to implement) that caused the developers to fail. This happens when technically marketing guys make development plans for techs. That wastes an infinite amount of capital.

Seems like a Theranos moment but at least Apple didn’t take it as far as Elizabeth Holmes.

 

[unclemax]

Is it wrong to experience a sort of glee from reading all the agitated comments under this news? I am a big fan of Apple gadgets myself but sometimes Apple fans just plain irritate me with their mantras about how the apple_gadget_name is the future, is the best ever, and everyone should totally get it. Especially lately I noticed this craze about AirPods (there are people who just cannot securely hold Apple earphones in their ears, plus what sound quality are you talking about on in-ear headphones with very insignificant sound insulation, are you kidding me? how can this be called the best Apple product in years) and Apple Watch (it is a very fancy fitness tracker, I get it, but what if I don't like the look? what if watch face selection is too limited for me? why should I prefer a gadget that needs charging every day over my nice actual watches? stop acting like you're some sort of trailblazer when you're basically a dude that bought an iPod nano in addition to iPod classic).

Now the case in point, a wireless charger. Actually Nokia pioneered smartphones with wireless charging years ago, back then it was considered an unnecessary feature by Apple, and by myself too. I only realized how neat the feature was when getting an XR last year. But I don't need Apple to give me their wireless charger at a ridiculous price point. They didn't pioneer or even embrace the technology at first, meaning there are plenty of companies producing adequate chargers already - I got one for ~$15. AirPower, why so much hype about it?

 

[iMacian]

They probably would have needed some indicators (lines or circles) to let users know where the coils are. You know, the tech behind the "magic".

Better to cancel it then

 

[torana355]

https://ifixit.org/blog/14883/what-finally-killed-airpower/

Well, it's not like there's another company out there who has done what Apple couldn't here. Physics was not on their side right from day 1, it seems.

That is because Apple tried to over-engineer a product that didn't need to be so complex. Being able to place your devices anywhere on the charging mat is incredibly overrated, ive never had an issue with conventional charging mats, they work great. But just like with the horrible touch bar on the Mac book pros Apple tried to find a solution to a problem that never existed.

 

[alextu]

Call me paranoid and/or creating a conspiracy theory, but I think Apple might have been releasing intentional rumors about the production of the AirPower recently, leading most of the people to believe it will be released soon, in order to use the "charge all devices in one place" hype train to boost AirPods 2 wireless sales. People might have opted in on buying the AirPods 2 wireless (or just the case) because they wanted the convenience of charging them all in one spot, and once the initial release hype was over, they were somewhat "safe" to cancel the charging mat.

Of course, I could also be totally wrong, but it could be one of the reasons we were hearing so much about the AirPower recently.

i don't think so. in tim cook mind he thinks that the iphone will carry apple forever, so no need to hype anything

 

[HiRez]

How hard is it to plug in a phone while you sleep? I don't see what the big deal is with wireless charging, it's hardly life changing. You still need a wire to plug in the mat that performs the "wireless" charging, the whole thing is ridiculous.

 

[Abazigal]

And it was precisely this stupid idea (which is not technically feasible to implement) that caused the developers to fail. This happens when technically marketing guys make development plans for techs. That wastes an infinite amount of capital.

I have to disagree.

Apple’s design-led culture, while not perfect, is what made it so successful in the first place.

Even with decades of experience building products and integrating hardware, software, and services, you can still decide to make a smartphone with a hardware keyboard, netbook, circular smartwatch, or a foldable phone.

The reason why Apple has not made any of these, and instead created iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods, and is now working of Glasses, is design.

Design is the magic ingredience, with Apple designers calling the shots, and searching for and having technology made to serve the product experience, not engineers excited about about new hot tech and trying to turn it into a product. Apple Glasses vs. foldable phones is the latest example of Apple's design culture leading to an entirely different product than what engineering-led companies are doing.

Of course, this can at times lead to Apple fumbling sometimes with products like antannaegate, the trash can Mac Pro, 2016 MBPs and now AirPower, when existing technology just isn’t good enough to meet Apple’s desired vision. But by and large, it has led to more hits than misses for Apple.

It *only* seems like form over function to the uninitiated.

 

[Abazigal]

That is because Apple tried to over-engineer a product that didn't need to be so complex. Being able to place your devices anywhere on the charging mat is incredibly overrated, ive never had an issue with conventional charging mats, they work great.

Right now, not so much.

I see its value in a world dominated with wearable technology, most of which won’t have charging ports or even an obvious orientation of charging. This is where throwing them anywhere on a giant charging mat without having to worry about placement or alignment would have more utility.

With Apple product events, the takeaways often end up being related more to how Apple is setting the stage for the future. Certain announcements and features make much more sense when thinking about what Apple will likely unveil in the following years.

Sadly, this isn’t one of them.

 

[trifid]

Seems like a Theranos moment but at least Apple didn’t take it as far as Elizabeth Holmes.

A bit of fun, sorry I couldn't help it

 

[alextu]

Why? They didn't release the product because it didn't meet their standards. If anything this would make me gain confidence in Apple purchases because they are putting out a good product that was throughly tested.

how do you know if it was a good product if you have never
even use it?

 

[PoppaKap]

Awful keyboards, three years to design a new desktop, can’t make wireless charging work... Pretty clear Apple is a software services company now.