Apple's Abandoned AirPower Prototype Exposed: Overheating Risks Revealed

Early on in its development, a working AirPower prototype displayed some severe temperature issues, such as burning or melting items placed on the charging pad, that eventually forced Apple to discontinue the project.

An Early Prototype Explains Why Apple Dropped AirPower

AirPower was an Apple-designed charging mat that was released in September 2017 alongside the iPhone X, as per MacRumors. It was designed to charge Qi-based iPhones, the Apple Watch, and AirPods. AirPower was developed so that customers may charge their iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch by placing them on any portion of the mat, which necessitated the inclusion of numerous overlapping charging coils.

When devices were placed on the charging pad, it would have triggered them to display a unique on-screen iOS animation, as seen in Apple's early marketing brochures. An iPhone on the AirPower charger would have displayed the charge of all devices placed on the pad. AirPower missed its planned 2018 debut date objective, and following a slew of development difficulties, Apple abruptly discontinued the AirPower project in March 2019.

Images of an AirPower prototype initially appeared on social media in August 2020, indicating a multi-coil design and the gadget's internal circuitry, while the first video footage of the device was released in August 2021. Several other AirPower prototypes have appeared since then, although most of them are no longer operational.

The "Kosutami" Apple leaker and prototype collector just received an early version of the AirPower charging pad. The prototype has 15 charging coils, as opposed to later models, which had up to 22 coils with minor gaps between them. The machine, like previous AirPower prototypes, lacks the white external shell that Apple marketed the device with, allowing the internal circuitry to be seen more plainly.

Kosutami's AirPower Prototype Reveals Overheating Issues and Alignment Challenges

Unlike other prototypes seen in recent years, Kosutami's gadget is fully functional, even when charging an Apple Watch. When the prototype was rebooted after sending commands to commence auto-calibration, a huge amount of information was read off it, including the firmware install date of March 17, 2017, directives for selecting specific coils, and more.

Kosutami discovered that when devices were exactly aligned with one of the charging coils, the AirPower charged steadily at a low voltage with no discernible heat issues. According to Kosutami, poor placement causes the AirPower to become extremely hot and can even leave burn marks on electronics. In fact, when charging on the AirPower, Kosutami's AirPods Pro charging case began to melt.

This requirement for perfect positioning between devices and charging coils violates much of the purpose of the accessory, which Apple marketed as more convenient than competing Qi wireless chargers that require precise positioning. Apple eventually solved the problem with a different technology: MagSafe.

In an attempt to mitigate the problem, Apple increased the number of coils inside the AirPower but discovered that increasing coil density made overheating worse. There have been no AirPower prototypes from 2018 or 2019, implying that the hardware for the short-lived device was virtually fully developed in 2017 or earlier. Instead, software was iterated upon before the AirPower project was discontinued due to an inability to handle overheating difficulties.

Rumors of Apple working on a smaller wireless charger in following years appear to have been tied to MagSafe or the MagSafe Duo charger, rather than AirPower. Nonetheless, a renowned Bloomberg journalist, Mark Gurman, said last year that Apple is still investigating AirPower-like charging methods for the future.

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