Apple
Apple AirPower
- Apple said it would release a wireless charging pad called AirPower in 2018.
- It hasn't been released yet.
- Apple is struggling with technical hurdles, including overheating, according to a Bloomberg report.
When Apple released the iPhone 8 and iPhone X last fall, one of their most highly-touted features was the ability to charge wirelessly.
Apple also gave a "sneak peek" of its own wireless charging pad, called AirPower, which would be able to charge an iPhone, Apple Watch, and its AirPods headphones at the same time.
Now Apple fans are wondering when AirPower will hit store shelves. Apple said at the time it was "coming in 2018."
AirPower may not launch until September, a year after it was previewed, according to a new report from Bloomberg. The report, citing unnamed sources, says Apple initially wanted to release the charging pad in June, at its developers conference, but there were issues including overheating and complexity. It may still release the charger before September. The device contains a chip running a version of iOS, the iPhone software, according to the report.
It's an important accessory from Apple, considering that the company may want to eliminate the Lightning charging port entirely, according to Bloomberg. In 2017, Apple's iPhones stopped including a headphone port to save space and increase water resistance.
It also is another data point in a trend where Apple previews products with release dates in the future, and sometimes does not hit its own deadlines. For example, Apple's wireless headphones, AirPods, were delayed in 2016.
A dispatch from Apple's supply chain last fall warned about issues with AirPower. "Which we believe is primarily because Apple has higher requirements for wireless charger RF specifications, so there will be no definite mass production timetable prior to technological breakthroughs," well-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo wrote in 2017.
More details about Apple's wayward wireless charger are available in the Bloomberg report.