
What Finally Killed AirPower - wp381640
https://ifixit.org/blog/14883/what-finally-killed-airpower/
======
brian-armstrong
So my phone is charged by a cable. It plugs into the wall on one side and then
plugs into my phone on the other. This system works _great_ \- I plug my phone
in when I go to bed and unplug it when I wake up. The cable is long enough to
plug into my phone even if I want to use it in bed. It's easy, cheap and
failproof.

What is the draw of wireless charging? What is it that I'm missing? Did anyone
ask for this?

~~~
_bxg1
It takes something _easy_ and makes it _effortless_. Like AirPods, this has a
surprising number of implications that you really don't think about until you
try it.

If I'm just setting my phone down on my desk and it's at 50%, and my cable is
right there, I may not bother to plug it in. Especially if I might get up
again in 5 or 10 minutes. But if I can just set it down in a particular place
and regain a couple percentage points, and I do this twenty times a day, it
adds up.

~~~
NeedMoreTea
This is what I never understood, even slightly. Why not just give an iPod /
iPhone dock without all the wireless bullshit? I prefer a dock as it holds
phone at a handy angle, syncs, and doesn't have the myriad of drawbacks of
bluetooth.

Smartphone battery life is so shit, on every model, that I always plug my
phone in. Even if the cable / socket is only going to be around for minutes.
So no saving here. In the days of docks, I dropped phone on dock every time I
was at my desk.

My first few phone models (Motorola StarTAC etc) had a battery life in weeks,
and I usually had a charger/dock with space for keeping the phone _and_ a
spare battery fully charged.

So from here it sounds like you've made a feature of going backwards at a rate
of knots.

~~~
azinman2
Many people are not like you. I personally don’t plug in at my desk even
though a cable is there, as it’s one more thing to do. It’s also then
tethered, meaning I have an extra step if I want to walk away and bring my
phone with me. It’s also tethered meaning I have a loose cable now dangling in
my way, which aside from functional issues is also ugly to look at.

I know many who almost never charge their phones, essentially always living at
5%.

Having a clean looking mat that’s permanently located where I can throw my
phone on, without regard to position or orientation, would be awesome.

~~~
NeedMoreTea
All of which is covered by having a dock as the act of picking it up breaks
connection.

With the added advantage they were cheaper than wireless, and unlike AirPower
actually available.

~~~
oe
I had a dock and replaced it with wireless charger as soon as they were
available. The ease of just placing your phone on a surface vs. lining up your
phone with the dock is well worth it.

~~~
mcguire
You mean lining it up precisely on the surface?

That's why I stopped using a wireless charger.

~~~
zachberger
The two Qi chargers I've used don't really require much lining up. With the
Pixel Stand the alignment is obvious, I've never missed the alignment on that.
I also have used Samsung's round, flat charger. Its a circle. Its hard to miss
the center of the circle.

~~~
gargravarr
The Qi wireless charger for my Galaxy S5 has a noticeable precision
requirement for placing the phone - it doesn't charge at full speed unless the
phone is accurately placed, which is infuriating and makes me cut back my use
of wireless charging; I've confirmed this by having a USB power meter attached
and watching the current draw change as I move the phone around the pad.

------
clay_the_ripper
What a shame, this would be the actual experience of wireless charging that I
had envisioned it was. The reality of wireless charging is quite different:
fiddly and possible to have your phone be dead in the morning.

I wish someone could figure out how to make a true wireless charging mat like
this. As it stands, I wouldn’t buy a wireless charger for my wife for example.
She’ll just plonk it on there and then ask me why her phone is dead in the
morning.

Who cares about convenience when there is a non-zero chance of waking up to a
dead phone?

I hope someone figures out how to make “true” wireless charging that just
works so that there’s no more fiddling with positioning.

I think that’s why there is so much hate on AirPower, people say “who cares
there are plenty on the market”. Yeah true, but not any that my wife would
want to use. And I’m betting there are a lot of people like that out there.

~~~
jachee
Both Qi chargers that I have make it very clear if charging is happening. The
"just plonk it down" problem is human, not technical.

I'm sure you're most likely underestimating your wife's ability to learn what
is, in reality, a quite simple task.

~~~
ReverseCold
If a human can mess it up, they will mess it up.

(Modification of Murphy's Law.)

~~~
kitotik
When compared to plugging into a grounded AC wall socket or even a standard
USB port, I find positioning an iphone on a wireless charger far easier.

~~~
stouset
It’s not about how easy it is to do right. It’s about how easy it is to do it
wrong and not notice.

And even if you are right, it’s moot if it’s on a nightstand and your cat
bumps it in the middle of the night.

------
pkaye
> The FCC rules for wireless charging devices like AirPower are quite strict,
> and limit exposure to 20 cm (8 in) above the device to 50 mW/cm^2.

I'm surprised they waited till the end to do the testing. When I used to work
on hardware products at smaller companies, some preliminary tests are done on
early designs to make sure we have a comfortable margin. A company like Apple
should have dedicated in-house facilities to do this earlier.

~~~
hn_throwaway_99
I'm quite sure they _didn 't_ "wait until the end" to do the testing. First,
this article is iFixit's speculation. Second, they probably did something
similar to what iFixit envisioned: they _did_ test early and knew it didn't
pass muster, but thought they could eventually engineer themselves a fix,
until they finally just hit a brick wall (aka physics) and found it wasn't an
issue they could overcome.

~~~
TTPrograms
A good engineer hits the "physics limit" brick wall pretty early in the design
process...

I would think it more likely that they thought they could change FCC
regulation via lobbying efforts in time for release.

~~~
sreenadh
Lobbying > engineering.

------
pg_bot
Could you put a pressure sensor on the pad and only power on the coils
directly underneath the object? I assume with software you could selectively
turn on/off areas of the mat to manage the heat problems that come with
multiple coils being on at once. I could see it being a problem if they were
charging all at the same time but you _should_ be able to fake it and call
that good enough. All the devices have to charge, but they don't have to all
charge at once. I think you could get tunnel vision and forget that.

Could someone who is better qualified tell me why that wouldn't work?

~~~
the_pwner224
There wouldn't be any need for pressure sensors; this already happens. The
charged device adds some power to its own coil and the charging station
detects that (it's unidirectional communication). For example my charging
station lights up about a second after putting my phone down, and can show the
battery status with the light. I would assume that when there's nothing on
them the coils transmit in a low-power mode, with the protocol allowing the
device to ask for more/less power as required (edit: Wikipedia confirms that
the device can actually send some pretty precise instructions to the station,
with voltage controllable in 50 mV increments [0]).

So logically it would seem the heat issue happens when there are three coils
active at the same time transmitting at high power - the peak heat output is
the issue.

[0]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi_(standard)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi_\(standard\))

~~~
7granddad
What I don't follow is how other multi-charging mats do exactly this.
According to the article, by their estimation it was powerful harmonic EM
interference that did AirPower in. If AirPower were only powering 3 coils at a
time like other multi-charging mats why did it run into this problem when
others had not

~~~
hmottestad
I guess it is because no other mat has overlapping coils. In the apple one
they wanted you to not care where you put down your devices. Since they have
so many coils, it then becomes likely that the 3 active ones overlap.

~~~
radiorental
There has to be something else going on here. It strikes me as relatively
simple to have the device talk to the mat and optimise on which coil was
providing the most current draw.

I suspect that engineering does have a design that meets regulations but they
couldn't get the cost down. I.e. the extra circuitry in both the met and
possibly the devices to precisely sense which coil(S) are providing optimal
charging is cost prohibitive.

------
DevKoala
This is a click bait title by iFixit. It’s all speculation on their end.

~~~
jhanschoo
It's an educated guess with evidence presented.

~~~
dodobirdlord
The proposition that Apple wasn't checking EM spectrum compliance until the
very end is so ludicrous that it's obviously false.

------
chx
What finally killed AirPower? _Obviously_ the imminent release of the uBeam
chargers which are going to obsolete these induction chargers overnight!

------
EdgarVerona
Thinking about that theoretical effect on pacemakers and hearing aids makes me
glad that we have safety regulations.

~~~
HenryBemis
>And that can be difficult—that can stop someone’s pacemaker

It was that very point that made me think: thank you Apple, you ARE doing some
things right! With risks like that, I like that they pulled the plug and they
didn't take chances.

The battery fiasco on the other hands, I still cannot forgive that.

------
two2two
I would love for this all to be one elaborate April Fool's joke and it becomes
available on Monday.

On a more technical note, this was a bit surprising to read: "'No one looks at
[Electro-Magnetic Interference] until the end.' The FCC rules for wireless
charging devices like AirPower are quite strict, and limit exposure at 20 cm
(8 in) above the device to 50 mW/cm^2."

Depending at which point was "the end" of the AirPower development cycle,
Apple either spent many many months attempting to remedy the problem with
small enough breakthroughs to keep the marketing parade going, or Apple
discovered something severe last minute. The issues discussed in this article,
I would think, were well enough known for some time--still making this a
perplexing story.

------
anotheryou
Why can't they cycle through coils one by one and see where the biggest drain
is?

I mean:

1\. Cycle through coils until you discover a drain. (From two (or more)
overlapping coils which both show drain, pick just the one with the biggest
drain.)

2\. Assume that's where a device to be charged is (or aligns best to a coil).

3\. Give power only to the this best-fitting coil (one per device)

4\. Pause charging for a few ms every 500ms to repeat at (1.)

As they have full control over the receiving hardware they could also easily
hide the small pauses in charging when a "search cycle" happens.

------
esemor
I (an Apple fan) do not consider this a failure. I love it when companies take
chances and go all in on pushing the envelope. Great products do emerge from
these sorts of products.

~~~
nikofeyn
it is a failure by definition. i don’t see the point of letting your love of a
company aid in changing the definitions of words and meaning of concepts.

and i personally feel this failure is an indication that their product line
isn’t as streamlined and consistent as they market it or they’d like it to be.
because this is a wireless charger, which has already existed on the market
for many years. so why did the airpower fail or why is it so different from
the others? well, for one, it was trying to charge three different types of
devices, which probably complicated their solution.

and their response is typical apple. it seems they actually couldn’t make it
work at all or pass standards, not this idea that they have every going good
but it doesn’t meet their “high quality standards”.

------
jackpeterfletch
One major benefit that I've come to appreciate is that it can't break.

My S8 usb-c stopped working about a year ago. Wouldn't have considered a
wireless charger before then.

~~~
nickflood
Writing this just in case it might help. My S8+ had started to lose contact
with the charging cable as well within about a year. I thought it was wearing
out because I never had any other phone's connector be clogged up, but it
really was pocket lint that jammed into the connector. Once I cleaned it with
the needle it was like new and very grippy. Since then I've had another friend
make the same assumption and "fix" his port like that, so do give it a try if
your port does not "hold" the cable as it should.

------
bibyte
Why did they have to cancel it entirely ? They could have just use a small
number of coils just like every other wireless charger.

------
Razengan
Ideal, possibly inevitable, future: Every device, including the cybernetic
implants in our bodies, is constantly charged wirelessly at all times (over-
the-air, with no contact required with any pads etc.)

Made possible by the etherspace we just discovered, with no harmful
implications until it attracts eldritch entities from the far realms.

------
lordnacho
If it's hard to make an interlocking loop design, why not startwhere everyone
else is, put out the product, and then iterate to where you want to get to?

------
sundae
Does anyone know what happened to Intel's once promised wireless power
standard Rezence? It would use magnetic resonance instead of magnetic
induction.

------
trhway
meantime i bought in December a pair of phone charging pads at Costco for $35
and still feel like it is the best thing since sliced bread :) Works like a
charm for both our phones - wife's iPhone in the case and my S9. If only all
these wireless earbuds that we also have to charge had the wireless charging
antenna inside - the life would be grand. It is very strange that Apple
couldn't pull it off.

------
sbhn
I first discovered air charging many years ago. I was in the office, and
outside wad a digger working on the road, and its engine noise was causing the
walls to vibrate. I thought, i could put some kind of capicitor on the wall
positioned to exploit the vibration, and charge my phone with that. Brilliant
i thought. I got to work immediatly on the invention. And then realised that
running a noisy tractor outside everytime i charge my phone, is going to cost
me significantly more money than using the supplied usb charging cable and
adapter.

~~~
maxxxxx
Look at some Rube Goldberg machines. You probably can replace the tractor with
a few cows and a hamster. This makes less noise.

------
KingMachiavelli
Strange, the most obvious benifit of having lots of coils while would be to
selectively use only the ones directly in the optimal location for charging so
the charger - device coil relationship is still 1 to 1, I don't think any
electrical engineer would think a M to N setup would be practical.

I think it's the combination of slow charging and as the article said; heat
production, - and the physical design the charging 'station' requires to
account for these problems. A lot of the current 'fast' wireless charging
solutions seem to have fans or a design than can dissapate a lot of heat. A
flat mat charging multiple devices would need to either have a fan or a hefty
heat sink to dissapate all that heat. Apple's very picky about the physical
aestetic of their products which throws out a lot of designs that include
visable heat sinks and/or grills.

Also, if I'm not completely out of the loop, Apple devices tend to excel
(relatively) at battery life making wireless charging, likely, an even more
niche product for their devices.

TLDR, once again Apple's aestetic requirements and the currently, relatively
niche market of wireless charging make an Apple manufactured (not just branded
like Google might do) a poor product to invest time and capital on and is
unlikely to impress share holders.

------
HocusLocus
The Inverse Square Law strikes again!

Tesla, for all his brilliance, was similarly math-challenged.

------
hartator
Can wireless charging be harmful for the health or their concerns are only
about interferences?

~~~
darkpuma
It's perfectly safe. It's just inductive coupling, as found in countless
devices with transformers around your home.

------
codesternews
Always underpromise. Never overpromise.

~~~
erikpukinskis
Never say never.

------
jo-wol
Oh, their keyboards met "high standards" then?

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PunksATawnyFill
Wireless charging is a dumb gimmick anyway. You still have to put the device
on a mat, which is connected to power by, yep, A WIRE.

So you might as well plop the device in a dock, and get more-efficient
charging and no space wasted inside the device for inductors.

------
quotemstr
> The FCC rules for wireless charging devices like AirPower are quite strict,
> and limit exposure to 20 cm (8 in) above the device to 50 mW/cm^2.

Who's to say that 50 mW/cm^2 is the right field strength limit? Remember when
we couldn't use cell phones on airplanes during takeoff because of the
theoretical possibility that something, somewhere might interfere? As it turns
out, there was no interference problem, cell phones were perfectly safe to use
in that environment, and the precautionary ban just stalled progress without
improving anybody's safety.

Maybe we're in the same situation here. I'd like to know what _specific_
problem an EM field of the strength AirPower produced would cause in the real
world. It's possible that we're weighing "backward compatibility" with
existing EM-sensitive devices too heavily relative to technological progress.

~~~
judge2020
You would risk even one pacemaker failing in light of 'technical progress'?

~~~
quotemstr
Well, yeah --- just like I'd risk one person getting hit by a train in order
to achieve the "technological progress" of rail transport. Every new
technology comes with risks. If we focus on the risks and ignore the benefits,
we can't make progress, and it's progress that ultimately benefits more people
than any amount of harm avoidance.

~~~
LIV2
There are plenty of wireless chargers out there, I don't think it's worth
someone dying so you can have another apple toy

