Back in 2019, Apple announced that after a year or so of having announced the AirPower wireless charging mat, that the project will be cancelled. Apple did not state the reasons why the device was ultimately canned, but rumors suggested that the company might have been a bit too ambitious with their plans which led to a ton of technical issues.
One of the bottlenecks of electric cars is the need to recharge them. Unlike pumping gas, recharging an electric car takes considerably longer. While this might not be a big deal for regular drivers, it might prove a problem for taxis where anytime they are not fetching passengers, it is income lost.
Apple seemed like they were set to disrupt the wireless charging industry with the announcement of the AirPower back in 2017, but unfortunately after reports of various technical issues such as overheating and not being able to meet Apple’s standards and goals of what it should do, the company’s ultimately cancelled the product last year.
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One of the features that we’re seeing more handset makers introduce to their phones is reverse wireless charging, where the phones themselves offer wireless charging capabilities which can charge other devices, like another smartphone or wireless earbuds. This is a feature that had been rumored to find its way to the iPhone 11 lineup.
The problem with the current iteration of wireless charging systems is that they’re not really “wireless”. You would still need to put your smartphone on the charging mat for it to charge, and it stops charging the moment you take it off. While it could be a while before we see “true” wireless charging systems, OtterBox might have an alternative solution.
One of the main selling points of Apple’s AirPower wireless charging mat is that it can charge multiple devices at once, such as the iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch. Unfortunately, the accessory has since been cancelled due to developmental issues, but it seems that Apple will offer up some third-party alternatives instead.
At the moment, the way electric cars are charged is by plugging it into a charger, much like our phones, tablets, and so on. This isn’t really an issue, but the problem is that we imagine that over time as more electric cars populate the market, it means that these charging stations could get quite busy.
One of the upsides to using a battery case for your phone is that it eliminates the need to take a power bank out with you as it is essentially attached to the device. If that sounds like something you might be interested in, then you’ll be pleased to learn that Mophie has since launched a new battery case for the iPhone.
It was with the iPhone X that Apple finally and officially brought support for wireless charging to their iPhones. However, by then it felt like Apple was really late to the party because the competition not only supported wireless charging, but some devices like the Huawei Mate 20 Pro supported reverse wireless charging.
Wireless charging has more or less become the standard feature that we can expect from most high-end smartphones these days, but it seems that Samsung really wants its users to know that their new smartphones have the feature. So much so that they have teamed up with JCDecaux Singapore to promote the Galaxy S10.
In what feels like an early April Fool’s joke, it seems that Apple has cancelled its upcoming AirPower wireless charging mat. Unfortunately, for those who were looking forward to it, it is no joke as the company has since officially confirmed that they have cancelled the production of the accessory.