Shortly after Apple introduced its new AirPods with a wireless charging case, the company has killed its long-awaited AirPower wireless charging mat for good. Unlike typical wireless charging pads, the AirPower offers multiple device charging and you can charge your iPhone, AirPods and your Apple Watch all at the same time.
The AirPower was announced about two years ago alongside the iPhone X, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, which all came with wireless charging as standard. It was an elegant solution for those who are invested in the Apple ecosystem since you can charge everything on a single accessory.
In a statement released to TechCrunch, Dan Rico, the SVP for Hardware Engineering had said:
After much effort, we’ve concluded AirPower will not achieve our high standards and we have cancelled the project. We apologize to those customers who were looking forward to this launch. We continue to believe that the future is wireless and are committed to push the wireless experience forward,
According to earlier reports, the AirPower was allegedly facing overheating issues due to its multi-coil design. It was also speculated that there’s also communication issues where the Mat couldn’t identify the charge levels of each device that’s being charged.
The cancellation of the product was surprising since it was spotted at the back of the box of the 2nd gen AirPods. Perhaps Apple was still trying to push the AirMat into the market but the product just fails to meet their own internal expectations.
In a way, it is a good thing that Apple didn’t release the product which could pose potential problems in the future. With the announcement, Apple users won’t need to wait any longer and you can find other wireless charging alternatives in the market.
From the statement, Apple isn’t giving up on wireless charging just yet and we won’t be surprised if they are already working on a newer version. We hope the next product would offer even faster wireless charging while still provide the same convenience as the original AirPower.
