Unfinished AirPower unit shown off in new video

A rare Apple device collector has acquired a prototype of the cancelled AirPower wireless charging pad, and has published a video showing the device connecting to an iPhone.

Giulio Zompetti shared a short clip on Twitter with an allegedly working AirPower unit. Unfortunately, he didn't provide any additional information, though the unit appears unfinished.

AirPower pic.twitter.com/bv8gi0NiiL
— Giulio Zompetti (@1nsane_dev) August 5, 2021

The iPhone in the video shows the charging animation Apple originally showcased during the AirPower product reveal. However, it doesn't appear to be charging the iPhone since the battery icon is still black in the menu bar.

Apple cancelled AirPower after around 19 months of delays and no additional news from the company. Multiple rumors suggested AirPower could return in a smaller, less ambitious, charging pad, but it seems MagSafe is the true successor to the failed accessory.

While Zompetti didn't provide any information about the AirPower charger in the video, it could be authentic. He has a track record for showing off prototype devices like early Apple Watch units, but AppleInsider doesn't have a way to verify authenticity.

7 Comments

elijahg 18 Years · 2842 comments

About 3 years ago

Interesting that the charging animation was left in. Seems they finished the iOS software but never could get the charger to work properly. Which is pretty unfortunate since there are now AirPower style charging pucks available with 3 spaces. I wonder if there were limitations due to the nonstandard AW charging which they couldn't work around. Leaving things like this in the OS though is where exploits stem from - rarely used software that's not fully tested. It should be removed.

flydog 14 Years · 1141 comments

elijahg said:

Interesting that the charging animation was left in. Seems they finished the iOS software but never could get the charger to work properly. Which is pretty unfortunate since there are now AirPower style charging pucks available with 3 spaces. I wonder if there were limitations due to the nonstandard AW charging which they couldn't work around. Leaving things like this in the OS though is where exploits stem from - rarely used software that's not fully tested. It should be removed.

A charging puck "with 3 spaces" is not remotely close to AirPower, and there is nothing on the market currently that is functionally equivalent. AirPower was designed with 20 coils so that it would not be necessary to align a device exactly with a coil for charging. Obviously 20 coils creates heat problems that aren't an issue with just 3 coils.

flydog said:

elijahg said:

Interesting that the charging animation was left in. Seems they finished the iOS software but never could get the charger to work properly. Which is pretty unfortunate since there are now AirPower style charging pucks available with 3 spaces. I wonder if there were limitations due to the nonstandard AW charging which they couldn't work around. Leaving things like this in the OS though is where exploits stem from - rarely used software that's not fully tested. It should be removed.

A charging puck "with 3 spaces" is not remotely close to AirPower, and there is nothing on the market currently that is functionally equivalent. AirPower was designed with 20 coils so that it would not be necessary to align a device exactly with a coil for charging. Obviously 20 coils creates heat problems that aren't an issue with just 3 coils.
You sure about that?

citpeks 10 Years · 253 comments

elijahg said:

flydog said:

elijahg said:

Interesting that the charging animation was left in. Seems they finished the iOS software but never could get the charger to work properly. Which is pretty unfortunate since there are now AirPower style charging pucks available with 3 spaces. I wonder if there were limitations due to the nonstandard AW charging which they couldn't work around. Leaving things like this in the OS though is where exploits stem from - rarely used software that's not fully tested. It should be removed.

A charging puck "with 3 spaces" is not remotely close to AirPower, and there is nothing on the market currently that is functionally equivalent. AirPower was designed with 20 coils so that it would not be necessary to align a device exactly with a coil for charging. Obviously 20 coils creates heat problems that aren't an issue with just 3 coils.

You sure about that?

Zens (with the Liberty) would also disagree. Not as sophisticated as Aira's (integrated and fan-less) technology in Nomad's Base Station Pro, but both are shipping products.

Both come at a price that a lot of consumers probably aren't willing to pay for the incremental benefits they provide.

No doubt AirPower would have cost a pretty penny as well.

Many people get along fine with the commodity chargers plucked from Amazon.

lkrupp 19 Years · 10521 comments

citpeks said:

elijahg said:

flydog said:

elijahg said:

Interesting that the charging animation was left in. Seems they finished the iOS software but never could get the charger to work properly. Which is pretty unfortunate since there are now AirPower style charging pucks available with 3 spaces. I wonder if there were limitations due to the nonstandard AW charging which they couldn't work around. Leaving things like this in the OS though is where exploits stem from - rarely used software that's not fully tested. It should be removed.

A charging puck "with 3 spaces" is not remotely close to AirPower, and there is nothing on the market currently that is functionally equivalent. AirPower was designed with 20 coils so that it would not be necessary to align a device exactly with a coil for charging. Obviously 20 coils creates heat problems that aren't an issue with just 3 coils.

You sure about that?

Zens (with the Liberty) would also disagree. Not as sophisticated as Aira's (integrated and fan-less) technology in Nomad's Base Station Pro, but both are shipping products.

Both come at a price that a lot of consumers probably aren't willing to pay for the incremental benefits they provide.

No doubt AirPower would have cost a pretty penny as well.

Many people get along fine with the commodity chargers plucked from Amazon.

And then blame Apple when one of those commodity chargers blows up their device.