AirPower release missed 2018 deadline , Apple remains silent

Apple had promised to release its much awaited device the AirPower charging mat in 2018. Now that 2018 has become the past, the company has missed the 2018 release window officially. The company had claimed that the charging mat would charge the iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch on a single compact mat with flexibility to place the device anywhere on the mat. However, reports say that the product is facing internal development challenges and would see a release only after summer.

This prevented Apple from bringing the product to the market as smoothly as it expected. The Air Power mat had claimed to differ from the standard single-device Qi charging mats in many ways. Apple had also advertised that the mat could charge a Watch, AirPods and an iPhone and also support an alternate configuration where the mat could charge two iPhones simultaneously.

The AirPower mat can also coordinate with charging the iOS device and to display the charging percentage on the iPhone lock screen. Apple SVP Phil Schiller while positioning the mat at the iPhone X event in September 2017 said, “We hope people love it, that it encourages others to create more advanced solutions based on technology like this. We’re going to be working with the Qi standards team to incorporate these benefits into the future of the standards to make wireless charging better for everyone. So look for the AirPower charger next year.”

The point is that Apple is yet to launch the mat and even the Qi standard did not see any contribution to date from Apple on how to charge multiple devices simultaneously without any clear spots of where the devices have to be placed. At the same time Apple is yet to announce the availability of the companion AirPods wireless charging case. Apple has maintained a silence over its pricing and it is not clear if the release of the AirPower has been cancelled or it can still be expected to be released.

Photo Credits: The Independent