Working AirPower Prototype Shows Why This Apple Concept Failed
There are a number of YouTube channels that have gotten their hands on an AirPower prototype. Why has this product gone under? We explain.
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Why was the Apple AirPower cancelled?
We got our first glimpse of AirPower at the Apple event in September 2017. Then we expected that it would actually be presented at the Apple event in September 2018, a year later. But that didn’t happen. And then Apple publicly (PR-friendly on a Friday afternoon) pulled the plug on the project.
To this day, we still don’t know exactly what happened. But YouTuber Luke Miani managed to get his hands on three Apple AirPower prototypes. In a video he demonstrates that they did work.
Multiple AirPower prototypes in circulation
The standout thing about the whole story is that Miani isn’t the only tech YouTuber to get their hands on this AirPower prototype. The 91Tech and DongleBookPro channels released a similar video on the same day. These (fairly substantive) videos give a clear demonstration of why Apple was forced to abandon the project.
Possible explanations for AirPower failure
We’ll probably never find out the full story of why Apple promised a product it ultimately couldn’t deliver. Most likely, AirPower worked in a lab, but the practice caused problems. It talked about overheating or radiation that could not be stopped.
The radiation theory is the most plausible to date, given when Apple called off the project. Overheating would have already been discovered in the lab. Apple itself reported that AirPower could not meet the high standards. In the two teardowns of the layers of the AirPower prototypes, we can take a first look at the inside of the charging mat.
This went wrong with the Apple AirPower
In the video we see a total of 14 wireless charging coils. With this amount, you could charge your Apple devices anywhere on the AirPower mat without worrying about where you put them. In addition, we also see a metal frame on the inside. A lot of electronics are packed together here. The (cheap) chips Apple used couldn’t handle this power. So to regulate it, Apple needed better and more expensive chips.
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This made it an extremely expensive product and likely caused Apple to pull the plug on the project. Miani, on the other hand, mentions that this product is actually completely over engineered is. There is so much ingenious technology in it, but that is not necessary at all for such a charging mat.
He also indicates that hardly anyone finds charging on a cable a real problem (or the handy MagSafe connection). That could also be one of the reasons Apple didn’t go through with this project.
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