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It was all the way back in 2017 that Apple announced AirPower, a wireless charging mat that would allow users to place their iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch anywhere on its surface and still charge them. The product ran into complications due to heating issues that came as a result of shoving too many charging coils into such a small space. Eventually, almost exactly one year ago, Apple finally called it quits and canceled the project.
However, it seems the company may not be completely done with the idea after all. According to Twitter user Jon Prosser, who has recently made a number of accurate predictions related to Apple, the company is working on the AirPower charging mat internally once again.
AirPower isn’t dead 👀
— Jon Prosser (@jon_prosser) March 22, 2020
The project is back on, internally. No guarantee that they’ll finalize and release it, but they haven’t given up yet and they’re trying to re-engineer the coils to displace heat more effectively. Prototyping is underway.
🧻🧻🧻🧻🧻 pic.twitter.com/tjbbViwGM2
The tweet itself claims that there"s no guarantee the product will be finalized and released this time, but Apple is at least prototyping the device once again. In a follow-up tweet, Prosser adds that the current prototypes don"t actually support the Apple Watch, but that Apple won"t move forward without that capability. As such, the device is being re-engineered all over again in order to enable this.
At this point, it"s anyone"s guess if and when AirPower will actually release, but the idea of a wireless charger you can use with multiple devices in any position has yet to be brought to life by any company, so it will certainly be a challenge. Mophie offers a charger that supports iPhones, AirPods, and Apple Watch, but you can"t place them anywhere on the mat.