A prototype of Apple’s ill-fated AirPower wireless charger has been seen charging an Apple Watch for the first time.
AirPower was an Apple-designed charging mat designed to charge Qi-based iPhones, the Apple Watch, and AirPods that the company announced in September 2017 alongside the iPhone X. AirPower was designed so that users could place an iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch on any part of the mat to charge them, which meant that multiple overlapping charging coils had to be included.
It would have prompted devices to display a unique on-screen iOS animation when they were placed on the charging mat, as seen in Apple’s early marketing materials. An iPhone on the AirPower charger would also have shown the charge of all of the devices that were placed on the pad. AirPower missed its original 2018 launch date goal, and after a large number of issues with its development, Apple outright canceled the AirPower project in March 2019.
Images depicting AirPower prototypes first surfaced on social media in August 2020, showing a multi-coil design and the device’s internal circuitry, and the first video footage of the device emerged in August 2021. Multiple other AirPower prototypes have appeared since then, but most are no longer functional.
Prototype Apple AirPower with 16 coils (PROTO1) charging a Prototype Apple Watch Series 4 (DVT). It’s amazing that Apple Watch charging works, given wireless chargers today generally can’t charge Apple Watches. However, the Apple Watch on AirPower gets quite warm. #appleinternal pic.twitter.com/GfywG3KZS9 — Apple Demo (@AppleDemoYT) April 7, 2024
A new video from the X user “Apple Demo,” who has showcased various Apple prototypes in the past, demonstrates the AirPower’s ability to charge an Apple Watch. The device features 16 coils and can charge a DVT prototype Apple Watch Series 4, but it apparently gets quite warm. Late last year, a functional AirPower prototype from early on in its development exhibited some of the severe thermal problems, including burning or melting devices placed on the charging pad, that ultimately led Apple to abandon the project.
AirPower’s ability to charge an Apple Watch would have been special because Apple’s smartwatch is only able to charge via its magnetic charging puck and does not support Qi. Simply placing an Apple Watch anywhere on the AirPower pad with no magnetic alignment would have been a unique charging experience.
Rumors in subsequent years about Apple’s work on a smaller wireless charger seem to have been related to MagSafe or the MagSafe Duo charger, rather than AirPower. Nevertheless, a report from Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman in 2022 said that Apple is still looking into AirPower-like charging solutions for the future.
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