Apple’s long-awaited AirPower wireless charging mat, promised for a 2018 release, remains unreleased. The Cupertino firm failed to mention the product during last week’s iPhone event, and has removed almost every mention of it from their website. This lead many, including us, to believe Apple is hoping everyone will simply allow the product to fade away.
Now comes a new report published on Sunday by Sonny Dickson which claims may be “doomed to failure,” unless significant advancements can be made.
The report’s sources indicate the following unresolved issues must be solved before the AirPower can reach shelves:
Heat Management:
“Currently the device produces far too much heat, which causes performance setbacks, and can affect the ability of the devices to charge if they become too warm in the process. It also affects the ability of Apple’s custom charging chip, which runs a stripped down version of iOS, to function as intended.”
Inter-Device Communication Remains Buggy:
“Apple’s engineers have been experiencing both hardware and software issues with the communication between AirPower and devices placed on the mat, -especially- the communication of Apple Watch and AirPod charging data to the iPhone, which monitors the charge level of all devices placed on the mat.”
Mechanical and Interference Issues:
“The mechanism being used for multi-device charging, which we can confirm is comprised of between 21 and 24 power coils of various sizes to accommodate the three main products to be charged (AirPods equipped with a so-far-nonexistent wireless charging accessory case, iPhone, and Apple Watch), which are broken into three identical charging groups, is proving extremely difficult to build or refine, and has been resulting in a significant amount of interference up to this point, which reduces the efficiency of the charging mat, and contributes to the heat issues that engineers are facing.”
The complexity of the charging mat’s circuitry is also said to be posing a challenge, as the report says the device may need to be redesigned to be lightly ticker and larger, leading to possible design compromises, a cardinal sin in the design-conscious halls of the church of Apple.
While the possibility remains that the AirPower may make an appearance before the end of 2018, it is becoming less and less likely with each passing day. The Dickson report mentions the possibility that the AirPower concept and brand name may be applied to a new product. We’ll keep you posted.