
What Really Happened to Apple’s Airpower - stablemap
http://sonnydickson.com/2018/09/16/what-really-happened-to-apples-airpower/
======
DonaldPShimoda
I think they got a bit excited with sharing prospective products. In the last
year or two they've broken precedent and announced a few things prematurely.
For one, they said that they were going to be releasing a professional-level
iMac Pro soon (which happened). In the same meeting [0], they said that
they're working on a new modular design for the Mac Pro which is probably due
next year (assuming they're still on track). I think the feedback from those
premature announcements was so positive that they decided to announce AirPower
before it was fully matured, and on that one they've paid the price.

I wouldn't be surprised if they turn up the recluse-o-meter once again after
this one, and I'm torn about that personally. On the one hand, it's great to
see proof that they're working on innovations constantly, and it's neat to see
that they don't always work (failure is a necessary component of invention).
On the other hand, it's super exciting as a consumer to watch their live
events and see something completely new that's available immediately and think
"Wow, this is cool!", and that wouldn't happen if they keep pre-announcing
things.

[0]
[https://daringfireball.net/2017/04/the_mac_pro_lives](https://daringfireball.net/2017/04/the_mac_pro_lives)

~~~
scarface74
They never said that they would release the Mac Pro next year (2018) they said
“not this year” (2017). From the link you posted...

 _These next-gen Mac Pros and pro displays “will not ship this year”. (I hope
that means “next year”, but all Apple said was “not this year”.) In the
meantime_

~~~
DonaldPShimoda
Oh, you're so right! I mis-remembered and didn't bother to check through the
article first. My mistake. (I knew the article from reading it when it was
published.)

Still, I'd be surprised if they expected it to be any later than 2019.
Historically they never give information out like that early at all, so for
them to break precedent and announce anything seems to indicate that they're
fairly confident. Hopefully it goes better than AirPower haha.

~~~
scarface74
Just the opposite. All indications are that they hadn’t even started on the
Mac Pro when they made the announcement, their way forward before then was the
iMac Pro. I doubt they had any game plan at the time.

~~~
chipotle_coyote
From what I've heard -- although my "little birdies" are probably much less
reliable than Gruber's -- they had _technically_ started on the Mac Pro when
they made the announcement. But you're only off by a matter of weeks.

------
saidajigumi
I eventually gave up on waiting for AirPower when Peel released their
charger[1]: very thin, clean lines without branding, no LEDs to bother you if
it's on your nightstand. It really feels like the product Apple should have
shipped along with the first wireless iPhones.

[1]: [https://buypeel.com/products/the-super-thin-wireless-
charger...](https://buypeel.com/products/the-super-thin-wireless-charger-for-
iphone-android)

~~~
ComputerGuru
I don't much mind the branding, but the LED is a real problem and it's not at
all apparent from some of the listings just how bad it can be. I first bought
a Samsung [0] (because it was one of only two that were purported to be
future-compatible with the fast wireless charge once Apple released it in a
firmware update), and could not bear the whole-room-illuminating glare of the
bright green/blue LED and do not recommend it.

I'm using this Spigen charger [1] now and happy with the tiny LED on there
that is mostly covered up by the placement of the phone. This newer one by
Anker [2] is on my list of chargers to try if I need a replacement since I
have been happy with their products in the past, but the hard, shiny surface
makes it look a bit cheaper than the matte finish on the Spigen, although it's
more reasonably priced.

I also have this stand-up Samsung charger for my desk [3], which does _not_
have the same glaring light issue as the first one I bought, but I
specifically did not want a stand-up model for my nightstand.

The Samsung models are specifically designed for Android Qi-compatible phones
that use a version of the protocol that is not fully compatible with Apple's.
In particular, their LEDs are dual-color and intended to light up blue when
charging then switch to green when charge has completed. They do not switch to
green when charging an iPhone. The Spigen by contrast just has an indicator
light that turns on when the iPhone is in contact with the wireless charger
(i.e. can charge, regardless of whether or not it is fully charged).

But note that the Samsung comes with an AC adapter capable of supporting fast
charge, but the Spigen and the Anker do not -- you'll need to make sure you
plug them into an adapter capable of supplying the sufficient voltage and
current (as I believe fast charge switches to 9V), otherwise charge speed will
be limited (and wireless charging is already slow enough).

0: [https://amzn.to/2POFUau](https://amzn.to/2POFUau)

1: [https://amzn.to/2NmnlNW](https://amzn.to/2NmnlNW)

2: [https://amzn.to/2OBQlxK](https://amzn.to/2OBQlxK)

3: [https://amzn.to/2xrXkC4](https://amzn.to/2xrXkC4)

~~~
joezydeco
_...could not bear the whole-room-illuminating glare of the bright green /blue
LED and do not recommend it._

I had the same problem, although the charger was black so I used a small strip
of electrical tape. Didn't cost me a thing.

~~~
ComputerGuru
The first Samsung I linked to actually has a huge ring that lights up. No
amount of electrical tape would help there.

~~~
joezydeco
They sell very long rolls of electrical tape. Hundreds of feet, it you want
it. I guess it all comes down to aesthetics.

------
jwr
I know a bit about wireless charging (I design&build electronic devices). When
I first heard about the idea of a multi-device charging mat, my first thought
was: how in the hell are they going to do that? I didn't think it merely
difficult, I thought it wasn't possible at all.

~~~
TrainedMonkey
They use multiple coils: "we can confirm is comprised of between 21 and 24
power coils".

Presumably they detect where the device is and engage an appropriate coil.
Quick search on amazon found a few charging pads with multiple coils.

~~~
joombaga
21-24 is a weird range

~~~
tcfunk
As someone who knows basically nothing about designing electronic devices, my
initial thought is 3 rows of 7 coils or 3 rows of 8 coils? This wouldn't make
it a range, though, so much as an either/or situation.

~~~
jakobegger
Would probably make more sense to choose some hexagonal pattern.

~~~
tcfunk
Oh, good point!

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iainmerrick
_unless the device is redesigned to be slightly thicker and larger – decisions
which Apple is specifically unwilling to make compromises on for their overall
design._

Sounds like Apple.

~~~
crooked-v
The bit that really annoys me is that a more stand-up form factor would
probably be more usable for most people, since it allows using a phone as a
mini-screen.

~~~
wlesieutre
Much harder to set a watch on that

~~~
kalleboo
Or a thick AirPods case

------
mrighele
> It also affects the ability of Apple’s custom charging chip, which runs a
> stripped down version of iOS, to function as intended.

Does the Airpower really runs a whole OS or am reading it wrong ? I'm
wondering what are the features that require that much complexity...

------
w4f7z
One alternative solution for multi-device charging that avoids the overlapping
coil approach that apple is reportedly having issues with is to simply move
the coil to the middle of the device(s). That was the solution that Panasonic
used for the QE-TM101 [0]. This particular implementation has only one coil so
multiple devices are charged in series.

[0]:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpSHJwiDfv4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpSHJwiDfv4)
(Not my video. Shows a Nexus 4 being placed in worst-case positions and an
illuminated robotic primary charging coil attempting to couple with the
secondary on the phone.)

------
bedhead
I still don't understand the appeal of wireless charging...it always struck me
as a solution in search of a problem. Is the half-a-second act of plugging in
a phone really so burdensome to people that we need to "solve" it? A wireless
charge still requires an outlet, a cord, a place to set the pad down...it's
identical to current charges minus the so-minor-and-quick-you-dont-even-think-
about-it step of plugging in the phone.

Maybe, maybe if an entire surface (eg desk) was capable of wireless charging
that would be a neat upgrade, otherwise I just don't get it at all. Now get
off my lawn.

~~~
AdmiralAsshat
Anecdotally, I can speak a bit about my Nexus 7 which I've had since 2014. It
supported the wireless Qi standard when it came out, and I got a wireless
charging pad soon after I got the thing.

I've seen quite a few complaints on the xda-developers board about people with
various Android phones and tablets (Nexus 7 included) becoming more or less
unusable because the microUSB port wears out after so many thousand plug-ins
and eventually breaks, dislodges, or stops recognizing the cable, and the end-
user is unable to charge their device anymore.

Since I wirelessly charge my Nexus 7 90% of the time (only using micro-USB if
travelling or topping it off at work), the micro-USB port is still in great
condition. Personally I've had four phones and two tablets and never had any
of the ports break on me, but, I suppose fumbling in the dark trying to jam
the cable into the phone late at night could definitely put some wear and tear
on the device.

I've heard possible stories that wireless charging might be worse for the
battery, though, so, trade-offs for everything I suppose.

~~~
Aloha
Has anyone ever seen a worn out lightning or dock port? I've seen plenty of
damaged cables and plugs, but not the port itself

~~~
kalleboo
Yes, there's an issue where if the ground/power pins have a poor contact (due
to a bad/dirty cable or whatnot), you end up up with a short on the pin which
creates tiny shocks that leave a carbon discharge, and making it drop the
charge. Your phone will now create carbon discharge on any new cable,
spreading the "disease" to other iOS device. Look around at any "public"
lightning cable for black spots on one of the middle pins.

~~~
Aloha
I think the connector is self wiping, and will eventually clear with repeated
insertions.

------
anontechworker
Apple also announced a wireless charging capable airpods case. Not a mention
of it since..maybe it wasn’t feasible?

~~~
georgespencer
Inductive charging on the AirPods case is trivial. Apple already ships a
similarly sized inductive charging system for the Apple Watch, which has a
significantly larger battery and slower charge rate than the AirPods
case/headphones.

The more likely reason they aren't shipping this yet is that it was a
companion piece to AirPower: it doesn't use the Qi standard.

------
etaioinshrdlu
I have played around with qi hardware for a device in development, the best I
could get from TI, and I found the entire system flakey, overheat prone, and
generally rather impossible to debug and sensitive to the slightest
variations.

Take a look at the Qi standard, it is mind bogglingly complicated.

------
technologia
From my short experience with wireless charging, I'm not a fan of the
overheating issues and its definitely the reason why I wouldn't choose to use
this over connecting a cable directly.

~~~
crooked-v
I primarily use a wireless charger and I haven't noticed any heating issues.
It's in a phone stand form factor, though, rather than an attempt to be both
paper-thin and lying flat like Airpower, so there's much more area for passive
air-cooling.

~~~
technologia
I think my cheap choice of wireless charger is to blame; I'll have to try this
out again with something more legitimate.

~~~
crooked-v
So far, this seems to be the best one I've seen for a combination of name
recognition, fast charging support (which is still pretty hard to find), and
not being ugly as sin: [https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/powered-iphone-
wirele...](https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/powered-iphone-wireless-
charging)

You can find cheaper $15 ones in a similar form factor on Amazon from Seneo,
but it seems to be a crapshoot whether any specific unit will last long-term
or have misaligned coils that give off an annoying whine.

~~~
technologia
Thanks, I'll definitely check that out

------
s17n
This is what separates Apple from their competitors - any other company would
have just shoveled some crap out the door by now.

~~~
Johnny555
You mean crap like an antenna around the circumference of the phone so if you
hold the phone in the normal way, you attenuate the cell signal?

~~~
scarface74
That was way over blown in hindsight. Apple sold the same GSM iPhone 4 without
any modifications for 3 years.

------
PaulHoule
This was all over the net yesterday, this guy just rewrote what he read and
now you are upvoting this spam.

~~~
stetrain
The linked post is dated September 16, I think it was the source of a lot of
the 'all over the net' you saw yesterday.

------
joshuakcockrell
Apple's own website lists a wireless charger for sale from Belkin:

[https://www.apple.com/shop/product/HLZ42/belkin-boost-up-
spe...](https://www.apple.com/shop/product/HLZ42/belkin-boost-up-special-
edition-wireless-charging-pad)

So, although I've never used one myself, clearly these chargers are feasible
and the overheating challenges the article lists are solvable. I know the
Belkin one looks more simple (1 device instead of 3), but why doesn't Apple
enter the market with a similar product? The article doesn't really answer the
question for me of why Belkin is creating one but Apple is not.

Edit: Not sure why I'm getting downvoted. This is a genuine question and it's
getting a lot of informative responses.

~~~
DonaldPShimoda
It's specifically tricky because of the three devices charging simultaneously.
As far as I know, no such charger exists. It's a hard problem to get all the
circuitry to work correctly in a confined space and handle various wattages
and currents at the same time.

~~~
pps
"This wireless charging pad supports 3 Qi-Enabled phone to be charged
simultaneously." [https://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Charger-JE-Charging-QI-
Enabl...](https://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Charger-JE-Charging-QI-
Enabled/dp/B078MKF7Y8)

~~~
macintux
That looks like 3 distinct wireless chargers, all for phones. Apple was
attempting something more ambitious: a large mat where you could drop 3
different types of devices in any location.

~~~
pps
What is the difference for a customer between 3 distinct chargers and 1 huge
for 3 devices? It's not that hard to put your phone or watch on marked place
on the mat, they could do just that, and with their resources they could do it
better than this small company (I see from reviews that it's slow charging).
Their idea was really cool, but if they can't do it, then why not create
something less ambitious and then iterate to maybe finally create The Best Mat
Ever.

~~~
david-cako
Apple is trying to solve the UX issue of orientation and position with
wireless charging. Current wireless charging is pretty shitty in that regard,
the idea being that a large device with a matrix of coils that can be
intelligently activated based on where the device is located would solve the
problem.

Any other solution would seemingly still have the orientation issue.

