When Apple unveiled the iPhone X, the company finally dipped its toes into the world of wireless charging, announcing support for the Qi wireless standard. In addition, the company also unveiled its own AirPower wireless charging mat, though it has not yet been released. Here’s everything we know so far.
Here’s everything we know about the AirPower wireless charging pad.
Apple failed to discuss the AirPower charger at all throughout 2018, and even removed almost all mention of the charger from its website. While we initially thought this may be a death knell for Apple’s charging pad, but rumors are abound that it’s coming soon.
The last rumor came from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who said the AirPower wireless charging mat will start shipping in the first half of 2019, MacRumors reports. Earlier leaks suggested the mat was in production, and that Apple overcame some of the challenges it faced last year.
Now that Apple has announced the second-generation AirPods, which come with an optional wireless charging case, speculation has reached fever pitch that we’ll soon be seeing the AirPower mat. MacRumors reports Apple has removed an image of the AirPower wireless charging mat recently, though it’s difficult to say whether that could mean further delays or that the product is coming soon. It could have been taken down because it showed an old design, as rumors suggest Apple had to retire the old design to overcome some challenges.
The main benefit of Apple’s AirPower is to wirelessly charge multiple devices at one time — meaning a 2017 or newer iPhone, an Apple Watch, or even AirPods, provided they’re stored in a wireless charging case. Powering several devices at once seems like a simple matter, but it’s not. Different devices require different amounts of power, and the pad needs a method to detect which device is where, and then supply the correct amount of power only to devices sitting in that specific location.
