Apple is bringing back its wireless charging mat from dead
Apple is planning to bring back the AirPower, its wireless charging mat that was announced way back in 2017 but canceled last year after it had failed to meet the company's standards. Tech analyst Jon Prosser recently revealed that Apple has started working on an improved version of the AirPower; he also shared an image of an alleged early prototype of the device.
Apple is working on software communication between AirPower, other devices
Prosser claims that Apple has sent the prototypes of the AirPower (codenamed C68) to its engineers working in the company's Sharing and Proximity networking team. This team is said to be working on software communication between this charging mat and other devices. As per the leaked image, the new version looks identical to the original oval-shaped AirPower mat.
The resurrected version gets an A11 chip for heat management
The new AirPower packs an A11 chip to manage heat. According to Prosser, using this new chipset allows the charging mat "to route power to specific coil regions" and "dynamically wait for temperatures to drop before applying more power." This technology helps prevent overheating, which was the main hurdle that led to the scrapping of the original AirPower.
Apple Watch was responsible for causing overheating
The reason why Apple shuttered the AirPower project was probably because of overheating caused by the Apple Watch. "Because the Apple Watch uses a tweaked proprietary charging method," says Prosser, "it requires more energy to charge. In previous prototypes, if you placed an Apple Watch on the mat alongside other devices, the entire charging mat would overheat, and in most cases, combust."
So, when will the new AirPower be launched?
As of now, it seems Apple has solved the hardware issues and is working on the software side of things. Hence, if it goes smoothly, there is a possibility that the new AirPower could arrive alongside the iPhone 12-series by the end of this year.
