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[rooster59]

Apple, in rare reversal, pulls plug on wireless charging mat

By Stephen Nellis

 

FILE PHOTO: Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, Phil Schiller, shows the AirPower wireless charging mat during a launch event in Cupertino, California, U.S. September 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stephen Lam/File Photo

 

(Reuters) - Apple Inc on Friday said it is canceling the AirPower wireless charging mat that the company announced in 2017 on the same day as its iPhone X, a rare public retreat for the gadget maker known for splashy product launches.

 

The mat was intended to wirelessly charge up to three Apple products at once, such as an iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods wireless headphones.

 

While wireless charging has spread through the gadget industry, charging three devices at once with higher wattage "fast charging" has proved challenging. Furniture seller Ikea, for example, sells a $60 matt that can handle three phones but it only features slower 5-watt charging.

 

In a statement, Apple said that it had concluded that its AirPower mat "will not achieve our high standards."

 

"We apologize to those customers who were looking forward to this launch," Dan Riccio, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, said in the statement. "We continue to believe that the future is wireless and are committed to push the wireless experience forward."

 

The announcement was a rare move for Apple, known in the electronics industry for keeping tight wraps on product plans until it publicly launches them at splashy events in Silicon Valley. The early announcement of AirPower, along with a wirelessly charged version of its AirPods headphones, was a break in that tradition. Apple released the updated AirPods last week, heightening speculation that the accompanying charging mat would come soon.

 

Daring Fireball, a website that covers Apple news, previously reported that Apple engineers had issues with devices overheating on the AirPower pad. Apple declined to comment beyond its statement on the project.

 

Apple offered wireless charging in the iPhone in 2017, after many of its rivals such as Samsung Electronics Co Ltd had offered the feature for several years. While rumors circulated that Apple might create its own unique wireless charging technology, the company instead chose to use a system that works with Qi, an open industry standard already in use by Samsung and others.

 

Apple shares did not move on the news, and shares of NXP Semiconductors and STMicroelectronics, two major suppliers of chips used in Qi systems, appeared to be unaffected also.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-03-30

[canuckamuck]

So much easier to carry a cord with you than a charging mat. I think I will manage the stress of attaching a cable to a phone.

[RocketDog]

On 3/30/2019 at 9:06 AM, canuckamuck said:

So much easier to carry a cord with you than a charging mat. I think I will manage the stress of attaching a cable to a phone.

Fair enough as far as it goes. 

One thing you miss is the connector life issue. 

Design engineers have learned the hard way that cheap connectors can relegate the most sophisticated products to brick status. 

 

A well-engineered connector is not trivial. Few users understand that rocking the power connector when they disconnect severely impacts its mating cycle life. Unlike more lurid mating styles, pulling straight out is better. ????

 

Having a Samsung wireless charger I find it much more convenient to use and prefer to save my connector life for cables when I travel. 

[direction BANGKOK]

A bunch of poor mice probably have cancer. Back to the drawing board. 

[attrayant]

I have been expecting this to happen because of the inherent inefficiencies of wireless charging.  You simply can't transmit any significant amount of power through the air without huge losses.  That means wireless charging for cars probably won't catch on in any big way, and wireless charging while driving will never happen.

 

I bet now Apple wishes it had never killed it off the magsafe connector.  It was one of their best and most popular design features.  Apple should have put magsafe connectors on everything. 

 

The Verge: Apple is killing off MagSafe, one of the MacBook’s best features

 

Microsoft has now incorporated this idea into their Surface Pro devices.

 

 

 

 

[lannarebirth]

World News? 555555555 Apple could go out of business tomorrow and absolutely nothing of any significance would change.