Early Prototype Shows Why Apple Abandoned AirPower

[Octavius8]

Apple “hardware engineering” is actually done in China. No 100% hardware engineering is coming from California nowadays. If it is attempted we get failed products as this and the “impossible for Apple” on screen Touch ID or the also impossible foldable phone.

 

[TVreporter]

Always curious can a shareholder ask how much that project cost us?

 

[jaytv111]

How do third party ones work without this melting issue I wonder?

By not having Apple Watch support. The Watch uses smaller coils, hence why the Watch charger is much smaller than the Magsafe charger.

So they tried putting in coils that overlap other coils hoping that they can service both Qi coils on the iPhone and AirPods case while also supporting the Apple Watch coils. But the problem is when you’re not close enough coil-to-coil between charger and device, most of the energy turns to heat instead of electricity. The heat builds up and gets hotter the more charging is done. The only way this can work out is if you charged in freezing temperatures because then it would cool down the charger and phone quite rapidly.

Or the realistic alternative was to put a fan and gel cooling in so the coils could all be cooled, but Apple didn’t want to put a fan in, not their style. As a result, Magsafe was created which relies on close positioning from coil to coil. And similarly, the other chargers that do this support Qi but not Apple Watch charging. Also they probably have some better cooling, they’re usually like 1 inch thick and probably have some extra copper tubes or gel cooling.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

If I remember correctly their version has a large fan in the base to remove heat?

Edit: I guess not.

Tesla’s version’s at a slant such that they only have to have full coverage mid to bottom as that’s where the charging coils naturally slide (as a result, there’s dead spots from the middle to the top). And, as others have said, no watch charging.

 

[UltimaKilo]

Even if it takes them a few more years to crack it, Apple shouldn't give up completely on the project, rather table it for a couple of years.

 

[n8dog]

I've always wondered why a more mechanical under the covers version wasn't possible. Like couldn't the coils place themselves under the devices if the charging pad could locate the device above it. Seems like possible tech here.

 

[svish]

Good to see the prototype. Work on it may have stopped for now but maybe some form of this wireless charger will be released in the future.

 

[ErikGrim]

I never understood why Phil Schiller announced this on stage when it clearly wasn’t ready for prime time.

Absolute wild how they announced this at all. Why not keep it under wraps until it was ready to ship?

 

[amartinez1660]

I've always wondered why a more mechanical under the covers version wasn't possible. Like couldn't the coils place themselves under the devices if the charging pad could locate the device above it. Seems like possible tech here.

No expert here, would that be a long stretch? Because I like this somewhat inverted concept (align the coils, not the device).
And now with MagSafe on phones, the closest coils could even tilt align by just the magnets doing their thing even.

I’m picturing a more springy/floaty coil ring base (if that’s even possible) and maybe they could have gotten away with a lot less charger coils instead of 15 and then 22 (which sounded like wasteful brute forcing it imo).

 

[wanha]

Always curious can a shareholder ask how much that project cost us?

Yes, but that's probably not a very useful question to ask.

R&D works like venture capital - you invest in the creation of many technologies despite knowing in advance that many of those fail.

However, some of those projects will succeed so massively it will give more than enough return on the investment.

If you focus too heavily on the cost of a single project, you are likely to miss that innovation fundamentally requires trying new things some of which succeed and some of which fail.

 

[ChibaCityBlues]

To be fair... AirPower and Qi charging are misleading terms for inductive charging.

It's induction. And it works like an induction hob. And unsurprisingly it also generates heat.

That's why I always tried to tell people that Apple can't remove the charging port. In warmer environments inductive charging just causes the phone to overheat.

 

[The Game 161]

How do third party ones work without this melting issue I wonder?

Completely different tech

You can't place things on it anywhere.has to be certain placement