Apple discontinued its AirPower wireless charger in May 2019 after failing to produce the device in a way that would meet Apple’s standards, presumably due to overheating and reliability issues.
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Leaker Mr-white (@laobaiTD), who in the past shared component photos and details about Apple’s plans, today tweeted some photos he claims have of the now-dead AirPower, which are from a Chinese social network.
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The images have an charging mat in an AirPower-like shape, with multiple wireless charging coils inside and a circuit board loaded with chips that would serve as the device’s brains.
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Apple designed the AirPower so that it could charge an iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch by placing the devices anywhere on the charging mat, and the overlapping charging features are probably where it ran into problems in designing the irAirPower but other wireless chargers on the market also use a multi-coil technique.
We do not know if these photos actually depicted the AirPower, because there is nothing in the design that specifically binds them to Apple. The photos were originally taken from a BiliBili, a Chinese video site, and Mr-white also shared the original video which has a few other views of the device in question.
Original video ： https: //t.co/05lLe80QE7 – Mr · white (@laobaiTD) 21 August 2020
Although work on the original irAirPower was canceled, there have been rumors from reliable sources indicating that some sort of wireless charger is still coming. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in January that Apple was working on “a small wireless charging mat,” which could debut in 2020 at some point.
Back in June, leaker Jon Prosser shared photos of the alleged AirPower that were still in the works, but those photos eventually turned out to be fake and of a wireless charger that is not AirPower, yet designed by Apple.
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