Apple collector, Giulio Zompetti on Twitter has released a video of what they claim to be a functional prototype of Apple’s canned AirPower charging mat.
The video demonstrates an iPhone XS Max being placed on the device. Subsequently, a charging animation (previously demonstrated by Apple) plays on the screen of the phone. The animation was shown by the tech giant when they provided a sneak peek of AirPower at the end of 2016.
AirPower promised that you could place a device on it wherever you’d like and it would start to charge. Furthermore, you’d be able to place up to three devices on it at any given time. Unfortunately, the device didn’t ever see the light of day. Engineering challenges made the product difficult to produce in volume safely and reliably. The problem was supposedly centred around the overlapping charging coils. The overlapping coils are what would have enabled you to place a device to charge anywhere on its surface.
Zompetti has a pretty reliable track record of having acquiring prototypes and subsequently sharing images online. This has included an original Apple Watch prototype, an iPad first generation with multiple 30 pin connector ports and various others. That being said it’s always important to take these things with a grain of salt. It’s equally possible that the video demonstrates what is believed to be a prototype but may be little more than an elaborate fake. The charging animation running on a presumable prototype or ‘DVT’ iPhone could just as easily be the result of jailbreaking. But I’m inclined to trust Zompetti’s track record.
Do you wish Apple had taken the additional time and released AirPower instead of cancelling it? Let me know in the comments!