The AirPower wireless charging pad may look svelte in its own dedicated section on Apple's website and may top up everything with the fruit logo in sight, but it's now officially the longest-running release in the company's history. In fact, remember the AirPower? Apple announced it as a cord-cutter's dream together with the new iPhone 8, Plus and X way back in September, and it's now been a full pregnancy term without nary a whiff of this thing becoming a retail product.
Granted, Apple delayed an unprecedented amount of products last year, chief among which was the iPhone X that made a cameo a month after the other two new iPhones hit the shelves. Then came the true wireless AirPods buds that shipped three months after their announcement in earnest, as well as the HomePod smart speaker, but nothing compares to the AirPower's delay. In fact, here's a look at Apple's unpleasant habit, acquired since its first Watch announcement, to ship products way later than their unveiling:
Announced
Released
Apple Watch
September 9, 2014
April 24, 2015 (227 days)
AirPods
September 7, 2016
December 13, 2016 (97 days)
iMac Pro
April 4, 2017
December 14, 2017 (254 days)
HomePod
June 5, 2017
February 8, 2018 (248 days)
iPhone X
September 12, 2017
November 3, 2017 (52 days)
AirPower
September 12, 2017
275 days, a pregnancy and counting
It's been a transitional year for Apple, with all eyes on the iPhone X sales, and the efforts to deliver unique propositions like the Face ID kit, the price-to-value AirPods, or the stellar-sounding HomePod, yet how hard can a charging mat be? Apple seems to have shot itself in the foot here since it detailed the pad as capable of topping off three Apple devices at once - an iPhone, Apple Watch, and the AirPods. To achieve this, it has to both come up with a new, wireless charging case for its Bluetooth buds, but also provide even distribution of the whopping 29W output, and that's what might be keeping it late. Apple actually does advertise the AirPower as "ultrathin," you know.
Not long ago, the Taiwanese supplier industry complained about impossible demands from Apple regarding "glass passivated package (GPP) bridge rectifiers" which may go into the AirPower. While the technology involved has been around for a while, the requirements reportedly are that those parts are wrapped in very slim packages, and that's where production might have hit a snag.
We keep our hopes high for the AirPower, but, 9 months after its announcement, it's still vaporware, let alone the pricing. We hope that Apple is at least intending to unwrap it with the eventual updated AirPods this fall, with an always-on Siri and W2 co-processor inside, which should come complete with a wireless charging case then, too. There is no shortage of options to pump electrons wirelessly through the glass backs of the iPhone 8, Plus and X, if you so desire, it's just that the real AirPower deal is still up in the air.
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Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena since 2010, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.
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