A Look at a Working AirPower Prototype

AirPower is one of Apple’s biggest embarrassments of recent times. After announcing the multi-device wireless charging mat in 2017, Apple failed to ship it and eventually gave up on the product two years later (see “Apple Cancels AirPower, Can’t Take the Heat,” 29 March 2019). While the company never provided an official reason for the cancellation, rumors suggested that Apple couldn’t resolve overheating and interference issues.

The Verge reports that prototype collector Giulio Zompetti managed to get his hands on a prototype unit, so you can see what AirPower looked like. This is very much not something that would have shipped to consumers—Zompetti had to adjust the baud rate to communicate with it. It also doesn’t work with production devices like iPhones because they need special hardware to activate the charging coils.

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