Why does MagSafe charger work with AirPods Pro case but not Watch 6?

[coolbreeze2]

I wonder why my MagSafe charger charges my AirPods Pro case but not my Watch 6? I'm not talking about the Duo Charger but the single charger. I know this is the way Apple designed it but I wonder why? Seems to me it would have been simple for Apple to design the single charger to charge the Watch.

 

[Puonti]

Apple Watches use a custom implementation of Qi-charging that's not compatible with Qi-chargers, like the AirPods are.

 

[coolbreeze2]

Was it necessary to use custom implementation? Or is that a way to force us to buy more products from Apple?

 

[jz0309]

from a charging perspective, we are still dealing with the S0 design that was first released in 2015 ... for standard Qi to be effective/efficient, you need a flat surface (and you know that the bottom of the watch is not flat) and alignment of coils which is hard to achieve given the size of the watch.
As we anticipate a redesigned watch in 2021, who knows what the charging options will be. I am guessing though that making the watch Qi-compatible is not the highest priority for Apple ...

 

[Mr. Awesome]

Was it necessary to use custom implementation? Or is that a way to force us to buy more products from Apple?

Qi was not a very mature standard when the Watch launched, and getting the coils to align would be a challenge with the Watch’s curved back, as @jz0309 mentioned. So using a smaller, magnetically aligned coil was a good solution for Apple. In the future, we may see standard Qi charging.

 

[coolbreeze2]

Ok now I understand but still not happy!