Wow, this is something we definitely didn't expect. After months of waiting for it to finally be available for purchase, Apple's wireless charging pad has been canceled by the company. The Cupertino firm confirmed this in a brief statement. We'll tell you everything we know and the reasons for this premature demise.
Apple AirPower canceled
The first time we heard about AirPower was in 2017. Apple announced it at the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X launch event and promised that its wireless charging pad would be released sometime in 2018. However, months passed and the company never mentioned it again or gave an official release date, creating great confusion among fans who were waiting for this accessory: what was happening with AirPower and why was it taking so long to become available?
Rumors about potential manufacturing problems intensified, but a brief appearance a few days ago reignited everyone's hopes. It happened with the launch of the AirPods 2 (released about a week ago), whose box included the aforementioned charging case. Did this mean the case was finally about to be released?
Nothing could be further from the truth. Just a few minutes ago, TechCrunch published a statement from Dan Riccio, Apple's senior vice president of hardware engineering, confirming the product's cancellation —a first for Apple, as our friends at ClipSET point out —due to issues with its own standards.
After much effort, we have come to the conclusion that AirPower will not meet our high standards and have canceled the project. We apologize to customers who were waiting for this release. We continue to believe that the future is wireless and we are committed to advancing the wireless experience.
The same source of this news report cites previously reported problems with the charging base. Last September, John Gruber discussed the base's overheating issues and suggested Apple had rushed the product's release.
This cancellation inevitably brings to mind the old white iPhone 4. Back then, the phone in that color was announced but took months to reach stores. The reason? It didn't meet Apple's quality standards, and the white didn't stay pristine, showing obvious wear over time (turning yellowish). They finally managed to fix it and released this model.
This time, however, they have not been able to provide a solution, canceling for the first time a product that had already been announced by the company.
AirPods, an orphan product
The collateral damage from canceling the AirPower charging case is going to be tremendous. As we mentioned before, the first products that come to mind are the second-generation AirPods . Obviously, the new wireless earbuds with wireless charging will still be able to be charged with any other compatible charging case; however, it will be quite shocking to see the product boxes in Apple's official stores referencing an accessory that will definitely never be available in stores.
See this post on Instagram
"It works with the AirPower base" #airpods with the hype through the roof. ?
A post shared by Jose Mendiola ??? (@jose) on Mar 28, 2019 at 2:37am PDT
We imagine that after this change of plans, the manufacturer will already be working on changing the design of these boxes, although at the moment you can still get one of these "limited and particular wrappers" without problems.
AirPower price:
AirPod box shows lightning cable. But lightning to USB-A maxes at 12W. Must be lightning to USB-C.
Wireless charging 3 devices needs 30W+. via https://t.co/C97Smpq644
USB-C 30W charger + cable = $70 alone!
So AirPower must be $149-$199? pic.twitter.com/i6iJX2mJuA
— Ryan Jones (@rjonesy) March 29, 2019
These aren't the only accessories that are feeling a bit lacking . Apple had already shown us images of the charging base also charging its beloved phones and the Apple Watch . All these products are now left somewhat unpaired and without the promised official charging base.
Did you expect Apple to end up doing something like this?