Hey guys it’s Greg with Apple Explained, and today we’re going to talk about the
mystery behind Apple’s airpower.
Because even though it isn’t released yet, Airpower’s story is already full of twists
and turns that are quite unusual for an Apple product.
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Now it all began back in September 2017 when Apple announced the iPhone 8, 8 plus, and
X.
These new iPhone models featured wireless charging as a main selling point so if Apple
was ever going to offer a wireless charging mat they knew it should be announced alongside
these new iPhones.
Because not only is that simply good marketing, but it would prevent customers from buying
third party charging mats since they’d be waiting on the AirPower’s imminent release.
And that’s exactly what the company did.
Apple’s Phil Schiller revealed Airpower at the end of the iPhone event, but it was
only a sneak peek.
Which meant no detailed information was provided.
Apple didn’t share any product specifications, there was no explanation of how exactly the
technology worked, and we weren’t told how much it would cost.
In fact, if you listen to Phil Schiller’s words closely, you might get the idea that
even Apple wasn’t sure how the product would work.
For example, Phil started off the AirPower’s sneak peek by saying, “our team wants to
create something I think all of us are going to want to use.”
Notice he didn’t say, “our team has created something I think all of us are going to want
to use.”
Now initially I didn’t look too much into this statement, until I heard these next two
lines.
First, he said we were getting a “sneak peak of this idea.”
Not a sneak peek of a product.
And lastly he said, “This is not possible with current standards, but our team knows
how to do this.”
Instead of saying “but our team has done this.”
So judging from these statements, you could draw a few conclusions.
First, maybe this is all just a matter of semantics and there isn’t any deeper meaning.
Second, maybe Apple hadn’t perfected this technology and they were sharing a product
that was essentially vaporware.
And third, maybe AirPower was still in development, but far enough along that Apple was confident
they could execute the concept in the near future.
Which is what I believe was the most likely scenario due to the events that followed.
But before we get into that, let’s explore what we do know about AirPower and why some
engineers are saying it’s an impossible product to make.
Apple claimed AirPower would be capable of charging the iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPod
case simultaneously.
Something that has never been achieved before in the wireless charging market.
Traditionally, a QI charging pad contains one coil to charge one device at a time.
And I should mention that it wouldn’t be able to power the Apple Watch since it uses
inductive charging, a completely different technology.
So for Apple to make a charging mat that powers three devices using two different wireless
technologies would be an amazing feat of engineering.
Because not only would the mat generate a huge amount of heat, but it would require
multiple overlapping charging coils to reliably power each device no matter their position
on the mat.
And Apple didn’t stop there, they created a slick interface on the iPhone that would
display the charging status of each device connected.
Now from the beginning many people have been skeptical of how Apple managed to solve the
problem of overheating and coil interference that this type of product would inevitably
have, but like I said before Apple didn’t provide any details about how they solved
these issues, and it could be because they hadn’t.
They simply thought they had a solution without thoroughly testing it to make sure it would
actually work.
And this appears to have been the case, because after announcing AirPower and it’s release
date of 2018, Apple didn’t share anymore statements about the product.
In fact, it seems they tried to make it disappear.
The company removed references to AirPower from their website after the iPhone XS event,
and was silent when they missed their 2018 release deadline.
And this type of behavior from Apple is surprising since they are known for only announcing products
when they’re ready and never mentioning products still in development.
I can only think of one other time when Apple broke from this custom, and that was in June
2013 with the Mac Pro sneak peek.
And we all know that product didn’t turn out as well as Apple had hoped.
So it’s worth asking why Apple decided to announce AirPower so early.
Because the reason why they gave a preview of the Mac Pro in 2013 was in order to appease
pro customers who had been waiting on an updated machine for years.
It had been so long, in fact, some users thought Apple would discontinue their Pro computers
altogether, and began looking at alternatives.
So it was definitely in Apple’s best interest to assure their pro market that a dramatic
update to their most powerful computer was on the horizon.
But what about AirPower?
It isn’t a product many people were actually anticipating so why wouldn’t Apple just
wait until its out of development to announce it?
And I honestly think it’s because they wanted to mention it alongside the iPhone 8, 8 Plus,
and X, to prevent users from running out and buying third party charging pads, leaving
less customers for them.
But it became clear Apple had jumped the gun.
Because they weren’t able to solve issues with overheating, coil circuitry, and software
nearly as fast as expected.
Reporter Mark Gurman claimed that Apple engineers hoped to launch AirPower by June, just in
time for the 2018 worldwide developers conference.
But this didn’t happen due to persistent technical problems, so the company set a new
goal of releasing the wireless charger by the end of September, likely to be announced
at the iPhone XS event, which would have marked one year since the products announcement.
But that goal was also missed.
And as 2018 came to an end, Apple didn’t provide any additional information about when
AirPower would debut.
But a developer called Steve Troughton-Smith published a tweet on the last day of 2018
claiming he heard Apple overcame technical challenges with AirPower and was moving forward
with its release.
The rumor picked up steam when it was corroborated with a Hong Kong website called ChargerLAB.
Apparently they received information from a credible source within Apple’s supply
chain that they had finally solved AirPower’s manufacturing issues and it was already in
production.
And ChargerLAB gave an update the same day claiming that supplier Pegatron was ready
to begin mass production of AirPower on January 21.
Now there’s no way of knowing if that rumor is in fact true, but it does sound like Apple
has solved most if not all of AirPowers technical issues and it will be released at some point
in 2019.
Now this brings me to another point of contention surrounding AirPower that has been debated
since its announcement.
And that is, it's price.
Back in August 2018 a Chinese website claimed they had access to “industry insiders”
who said AirPower would likely be priced at 1,000 Chinese Yuan, or about $149 US dollars.
And this triggered a flurry of comments from users who thought that price was far too high,
especially when considering AirPower’s competition like Mophie, who offers a 10 watt QI fast
charger for just $60.
But I don’t think it’s fair to make such a comparison, because if Apple does deliver
on the technology they promised with AirPower, the product would be in a league of its own,
and you’d essentially be getting three charging pads for the price of one.
Therefore making AirPower a pretty good deal at just $149.
Now I do want to mention something Phil Schiller brought up in AirPower’s sneak peek that
hasn’t been discussed much.
And it has to do with him saying, “we’re going to be working with the QI standards
team to incorporate these benefits into the future of these standards to make wireless
charging better for everyone.”
Now that’s kind’ve a vague statement but it certainly suggests that Apple isn’t opposed
to opening up their technology and patents in order to help improve all QI chargers on
the market.
Which is another unusual move for the company as they typically protect their patents aggressively
in order to maintain a competitive edge in the market.
So I think it’s safe to say that Apple has overcome the unexpected technical issues with
AirPower that have caused its release to be delayed more than a year.
But some people think it’s too little too late.
Claiming AirPower was too long delayed and that iPhone users have already found wireless
chargers they enjoy.
But I disagree.
Because like I said, AirPower will be unlike any QI charger we’ve seen before, similar
to how AirPods were unlike any pair of wireless headphones we’d ever seen.
And that new technology will bring conveniences and benefits that many users will happily
pay a premium for.
So based on current rumors we’ll likely see AirPower released as soon as February,
and as late as December 2019.
I just hope Apple delivers on all the features and technology they promised during its sneak
peek without compromising in order to reach mass production sooner.
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Okay guys, so that’s the mystery behind Apple’s AirPower.
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