It's been more than 16 months since Apple showcased the wireless charger mat AirPower along with iPhone 8, 8 Plus and the iconic iPhone X in September 2017 fall event. The company had promised that the new charger will make its way to the market in 2018, but it never materialised.
Now, Luxshare Precision known to manufacture AirPods and USB-C cables for Apple has started mass production of AirPower. Even the Taiwan-based iPhone contractor Pegatron has received the official nod to make the wireless chargers and would start the manufacturing by the end of January 2019, ChargerLab reported citing sources in the supply chain in China.
Having missed the deadline by more than a year, Apple is expected to roll-out the AirPower mats to multiple global regions in quick time in coming months.
Why the delay in producing AirPower mats?
It is believed that Apple AirPower mat, which uses three coils had heating issues when multiple devices are placed side by side for charging at the same time. Now, apparently, Apple engineers seem to have found the solution and are ready for mass production.
It can be noted that Apple's AirPods too had faced a long delay in reaching the market. Apple AirPods boasts breakthrough wireless technology to offer seamless sound experience on both ears and trouble-free connectivity with iPhones and iPads. In rival brands, only one of the two earpieces connects to the phone via Bluetooth and then transmit the signal to its secondary earpiece. But in the Apple's case, both the units of AirPods are independently connected to the companion device thanks to W-series chipset. But, it took several months for engineers to fine tune the AirPods' marquee feature and going by the recent market trends, AirPods, despite being expensive has received good response from the public.
We expect the AirPower, once it hit stores later in the year, will definitely receive similar reception if not overwhelming.
What's so special about Apple AirPower?
Interesting aspect of AirPower mat is that it can send information about the current charging status of the AirPods, Apple Watch Series 3 (& later) to the iPhone. You can view right on the lock screen including the iPhone battery charging details, as well [see picture above]. This intelligent feature of grouping multiple devices' charging details is not available in any of the rival brands.
Also, as you have already noticed that Apple AirPower also supports simultaneous charging of multiple devices.
