A new video shows AirPower prototype charging an Apple Watch

Apple announced its wireless charging mat AirPower in full glory in 2017. However, the device couldn't see the daylight due to technical limitations. Now, a video shared by Apple Demo on X (formerly Twitter) shows a prototype AirPower charging mat powering an Apple Watch.

In the alleged video, an Apple Watch Series 4 prototype starts charging wirelessly after it's placed on top of an AirPower prototype with 16 coils. After that, the presenter flips over the charging mat to reveal the internals of the AirPower prototype.

Apple Demo noted that AirPower gets quite warm as it manages to charge the Apple Watch, "given wireless chargers today generally can't charge Apple Watches." For reference, the Apple Watch relies on a magnetic puck charger to power itself wirelessly.

Last year, Apple leaker Kosutami also shared images of a similar-looking AirPower prototype with 15 coils. In addition to an iPhone and AirPods, the leaker claimed they even managed to charge an Android phone with it.

When Apple first talked about AirPower at the iPhone X launch event, the idea was to have a single charging accessory to wirelessly power multiple devices such as an iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch at the same time.

The AirPower was expected to launch in September 2018, but Apple kept delaying the tech due to overheating issues and trying to make it work. There were even rumors that AirPower entered production, and its references were spotted in an iOS developer beta.

Finally, Apple pulled the plug on its iPhone charging accessory in 2019. Apple wanted to design the charging mat so that users could charge their devices by placing them on any part of it. However, adding more coils and their subsequent overlapping created heating issues that the company couldn't fix.

With that said, a past rumor of leaker Jon Prosser suggested the charging mat might still be in the works internally, although there is no guarantee Apple will "finalize and release it."

Via MacRumors