Apple AirPower lives as YouTuber takes a look at the failed charging pad prototype

A recent YouTube video by the channel 91Tech, took look back at Apple AirPower, a failed prototype. However, this is not the first time as Apple AirPower's first real-life image surfaced online in August 2020. And exactly one year later, Apple tech collector Giulio Zompetti tweeted the first video of a working AirPower prototype.

Apple AirPower is an all-in-one wireless charging pad promised by Apple in 2017. The iPhone 8 and iPhone X were the first two iPhone series that came with wireless charging support. At the iPhone 8/X series launch event, Apple promised its consumers "one more thing". A wireless charging mat where users can put their iPhone 8 or X, Apple Watch Series 3, and AirPods all together.

However, things didn't work out as the prototype encountered several problems that led to it getting scrapped entirely. With 91Tech's video, the global audience can finally find out more about the scrapped piece of hardware.

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Apple AirPower failed prototype recently got a tear-down in a YouTube video

91Tech's video took an Apple AirPower prototype from June 2017, and made a deep analysis of everything from hardware to developer commands.

The prototype that was used in the video was not a finished model as it lacked the mesh covering. It was just a barebones prototype from the pre-production stage, and had a black rubber cover at the top of the charging coils on one side, and barebones chips on the other.

This Qi compatible three-in-one charging device has 22 charging coils that enable simulataneous charging of up to three devices. On the other hand, any common single-device wireless charger has only one charging coil.

This outrageous number of charging coils was one of the reasons behind AirPower's failure. Even with their magical hardware-software optimization, Apple had overheating issues with this device.

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When was Apple AirPower scrapped?

When the project was still active, Apple thought it was creating "something that might actually help move the entire industry forward." The concept sounded pretty revolutionary, but such a massive powerhouse was pretty hard to produce in real life. Although Apple confidently claimed to successfully launch this product on the market, they remained silent about it for a year.

In 2019, Apple stopped further work on the AirPower prototype. The primary reason was overheating, and there were several other issues. In an emailed statement, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, Dani Riccio said:

"After much effort, we’ve concluded AirPower will not achieve our high standards and we have cancelled the project. We apologize to those customers who were looking forward to this launch. We continue to believe that the future is wireless and are committed to push the wireless experience forward."

It is quite rare for Apple to scrap a product after teasing it proudly. AirPower became the latest entry in the list of unreleased products by Apple, alongside MessageSlate, PenLite, PowerBop and more.

Later, several brands like Belkin took the idea of Apple AirPower and made their own devices. Some of them are even officially certified by Apple and listed on their website.

However, Apple compensated for the loss of AirPower by introducing MagSafe chargers in 2020. It's a series of magnetic wireless chargers from Apple that stick to the back of iPhones to prevent them from falling. It was launched with the launch iPhone 12, and this line of chargers only supports iPhone 12 and later devices.