Oliver Haslam·

Apple’s AirPower Might Not Be Dead, But It’s Now ‘Less Ambitious’ Than Before

The story of AirPower is one that Apple is unlikely to live down any time soon, but it might still be working on its mistakes. After announcing it during the iPhone X announcement in 2017, the wireless charger was later canceled.

Rumors of its resurrection have been abound in recent months and now Bloomberg reports that it’s coming back. But it won’t be as ambitious as before.

The best thing about AirPower, as it was announced, was that it would allow users to put devices anywhere on the surface and have them charge.

That included iPhones, AirPods, and Apple Watches. But alas, it never happened. Now, Bloomberg says AirPower is back, but it won’t be quite as impressive as first shown.

More than a year after AirPower’s demise, Apple is developing a less ambitious wireless charger for the iPhone. But while the Silicon Valley giant works on that product, Aira Inc., a startup based in Chandler, Arizona, this week is rolling out a technology called FreePower that aims to deliver on the original promise of AirPower, and works for devices from different manufacturers, including those from Google and Samsung Electronics Co. — not just Apple.

Devices similar to AirPower already exist, however. Nomad recently announced the Base Station Pro and it already lets users place devices anywhere and have them charge. It doesn’t support Apple Watches, though, and that’s something you’d expect Apple’s AirPower to do if and when it ever comes to market.

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