RIP: Apple Officially Canceled Its AirPower Wireless Charger

Apple has officially canceled its long-awaited wireless charging mat. Yes, after being missing for more than a year, AirPower is dead.

Tech Crunch reports Dan Riccio, Apple Senior Vice President of Hardware and Engineering said in an email statement that “After much effort, we’ve concluded AirPower will not achieve our high standards and we have cancelled the project. We apologize to those customers who were looking forward to this launch. We continue to believe that the future is wireless and are committed to push the wireless experience forward.”

AirPower was first teased way back in September 2017, with a promised launch date sometime in 2018. But that year came and went without so much as a peep about the device. Reportedly, that was due to engineering constraints — and led some to believe that the device had been scrapped – which is now known to be true.

AirPower was supposed to be simple and clean. It would’ve sported a minimalist design and a large charging surface. All users would’ve needed to do is plug a USB-C cable into it and place an iPhone, Apple Watch or AirPods Wireless Charging Case anywhere on the surface and they’d begin charging simultaneously.

While the wireless charging sphere is fairly crowded, AirPower was unique in a couple of ways. It featured a mixture of Qi and proprietary inductive charging systems and a unique design that would’ve allowed it to charge any device on its charging surface regardless of coil placement.

It’s unfortunate that AirPower would never live up the suspense that’s been building over the last few years. Luckily, there are many other great wireless chargers to choose from.