A new leak from Jon Prosser claims that Apple has resolved the overheating issue between the Apple Watch and the company’s AirPower charging pad.
A Prosser leak on Twitter claims to show an Apple Watch being charged on a “C68,” the codename for an AirPower wireless charging plate. The leak indicates Apple has finally resolved the key overheating issue that is believed to have caused the AirPower project to be canceled.
Apple never explained why the AirPower project was canceled, and only said the project had been dropped due to quality issues.
“After much effort, we’ve concluded AirPower will not achieve our high standards and we have canceled 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,” said Dan Riccio, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering in an emailed statement at the time.
Prosser later reported that it was due to overheating – to the point that it caught fire. The issue was said to be due to the Apple Watch’s proprietary wireless charging system required more energy than other devices.
The AirPower was designed to simultaneously charge an iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods. Following Apple’s 2017 announcement and the delays that followed, numerous rumors of technical difficulties arose, while Apple stayed typically closed-mouthed about the delays.
Prosser reported earlier this year that Apple was testing “C68” prototypes that included an A11 processor to manage heat. At the time he said the prototypes wouldn’t support the Apple Watch, but apparently they now do.