AirPower prototype, Apple's wireless charger, leaks in photos and video | gadgets

AirPower prototype, Apple's wireless charger, leaks in photos and video | gadgets" title="AirPower prototype, Apple's wireless charger, leaks in photos and video | gadgets" />

O airpower It was an ambitious proposal from the apple. The wireless charger promised to charge the iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods at the same time, all on the same base. The manufacturer, however, canceled the accessory in 2019, before it even hit the shelves. Even so, it is possible to take a look at a working prototype of the accessory thanks to photos and videos revealed by Giulio Zompetti this Thursday (5).

The Apple AirPower prototype was made public on the profile of the Apple product collector. On Twitter, Zompetti revealed a video of the prototype without the white housing, only with the internal part of the wireless charger. He placed an iPhone on the base, which triggered an animation before displaying the charging information.

O The Verge got in touch with the collector and had access to photos of the accessory. Zompetti explained that he bought the unfinished AirPower unit through a Chinese junk source and that he was able to charge two devices at once through the accessory. The device has 22 coils on the front and 22 circuits on the back, but it only works with a special iPhone prototype to drive it.

“It's an engineering prototype; it was not made to be plug and play”, he explained to the website. “When I connected my Lightning serial cable to it, I could see some characters in the log. Then, after fixing the baud rate, I was able to read a comprehensible log”.

airpower pic.twitter.com/bv8gi0NiiL

— Giulio Zompetti (@1nsane_dev) August 5, 2021

AirPower was canceled by Apple in 2019; understand the case

The Apple AirPower story began in 2017 alongside the iPhone 8 and iPhone X. That year, Apple announced a wireless charger that could charge an iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods simultaneously, side by side and in the same dock. The accessory, according to the manufacturer at the time, would only be released in 2018.

Apple, however, did not start selling the product within the promised timeframe. Afterwards, the accessory became the target of various backstage information, such as the expected release in 2019 given by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo in October 2018. On March 20, 2019, sources heard by Wall Street Journal reported that mass production of the charger had been approved. But the device never hit stores.

It didn't take long and Apple stopped the launch of the device. On the 29th of the same month, the iPhone manufacturer announced the cancellation of AirPower, putting an end to its ambitious project of being able to charge up to three devices on a single wireless charging base. According to the company, the device did not meet its standards. The company also apologized to consumers for the inconvenience.

With information: MacRumors and The Verge