Apple’s AirPower Wireless Charging Pad Set for September Release: REPORT

Announced last September alongside the Apple Watch Series 3, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X, Apple’s “AirPower” wireless charging mat still hasn’t seen the light of day.

At Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) earlier this month, we learned that even after nine months since it was announced, AirPower still doesn’t have a release date or price — in fact, it wasn’t even mentioned during the keynote presentation.

A new report from Bloomberg attempts to shed some light on the delay the product has seen, claiming that Apple is now aiming to start selling its AirPower wireless charging mat before or in September.

According to the report, Apple has apparently hit “technical hurdles” in the AirPower development process due to the complexity involved in the product. Bloomberg reports that engineers have been working on fixing firmware-related bugs, as Apple is using custom chips and attempting to allow consumers to place devices anywhere on the mat.

AirPower will charge multiple devices at the same time, but other charging mats can do that, too. What’s different here is that AirPower claims it can help devices communicate with each other to manage power consumption. Engineers are also taking measure to ensure that the mat doesn’t overheat while charging up to three devices at the same time: a modern iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods.

“The AirPower charger is also more advanced than the current competition because it includes a custom Apple chip running a stripped down version of the iOS mobile operating system to conduct on-device power management and pairing with devices,” reads the report. “Apple engineers have also been working to squash bugs related to the on-board firmware, according to the people familiar.”

Apple has previously stated that it will share the technology used to charge multiple devices with standard bodies, allowing other manufacturers to make similar charging mat products. And while Apple isn’t technically late to release the AirPower charging mat until next year, it’s pretty clear that the Cupertino company is a bit behind schedule on this one.

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