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Apple has been one of the biggest driving forces when it comes to bringing technology to the mainstream public, and when it announced that its iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and X would all support Qi wireless charging, it was a great day for the technology, which is now seeing a bigger push than ever.
The inclusion of the feature made a clear statement about Apple's vision for a wireless future - especially following its move to also ditch the headphone jack with the iPhone 7 one year before - and the company's announcement that it was working on its own wireless charger which could charge multiple devices at once, followed by the acquisition of PowerbyProxi, only reinforced that vision.
Unfortunately, it's been a long time since we last heard of the company's AirPower wireless charger, which may have left some wondering what happened to the company's plans. A new report by Bloomberg indicates that a release is still on track for the current year and that it should happen in September.
This seems to be a credible time frame, as Apple also typically announces its new iPhones around that time. We could end up seeing this year's models release alongside the brand new charger.
The report states that Apple had originally intended to release the product in June, but difficulties in bringing the simultaneous charging of multiple devices to reality have caused some delays. Some of the technical hurdles mentioned by sources familiar with the development lie in the ability to cram different charging mechanisms into the device so as to support charging for the iPhone, Apple Watch and the new AirPods charging case at once. Heat is also a typical side effect of wireless charging, and charging multiple devices simultaneously could make this even harder to handle.
Apple's goal seems to be the removal of any ports on their devices as they aim for a completely wireless ecosystem. The company reportedly discussed the possibility of doing this with the iPhone X, but decided that the charging speeds using wires are still much better than what's possible with wireless charging.
The in-house development of its own wireless charger could be an attempt to address that issue as soon as possible, but it remains to be seen if the company manages to overcome the technical hurdles in increasing charging speed without using cables.
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