An insider has revealed an early prototype of the AirPower charger. Now it's clear why Apple abandoned this project

In 2017, along with the iPhone X, Apple announced the AirPower wireless charging station, which could simultaneously charge several devices: for example, a smartphone, headphones and a watch. It never went on sale, and a few years later the company finally closed this project. Now it's clear why.

Details

An Apple whistleblower and prototype collector known as Kosutami showed an early AirPower prototype on social media, and a working one at that. It even has a firmware installation date of 17 March 2017 on it. This prototype has 15 charging coils, though Apple increased the number to 22 after a while.

Kosutami discovered serious issues with the charging station. If the devices are not positioned correctly, the mat starts to get very hot and can even damage the gadgets. Thus, the charging case of the insider's headphones left a burn mark.

I love it pic.twitter.com/tMoPg8ktSU

- Kosutami (@KosutamiSan) December 17, 2023

In an attempt to solve the overheating problem, Apple once increased the number of coils, but it turned out that the higher coil density only exacerbated overheating.

As a result, Apple shut down the project and now uses MagSafe wireless charging technology.

Source: @KosutamiSan