It looks like Apple AirPad Charging Mat may come to fruition after all. First announced back in 2017, alongside the iPhone 8 and the iPhone x, the AirPower has existed rather as a mythical device. Prevailing only in talks but never to be seen. But if the reports from Hong Kong-based ChargerLAB are to be believed, we could see the device hit the shelves as early as Q1 of 2019.
They tweeted saying they’ve learned from a credible source that Luxshare Precision has already begun manufacturing the AiPower charging pad. Luxshare Precision is a consortium that specializes in the production of cables and charging devices. The company also manufactures Apple’s AirPods and lighting connector cables.
MacRumours also added to the credibility of these claims when the translated the WeChat text using Google Translate. They mentioned that the translated text is in line with ChargerLAB’s tweets.
In a follow-up tweet, ChargerLAB also stated that another manufacturer – Pegatron, would start production on January 21st alongside Luxshare Precision. It was first announced back in June that Pegatron Corporation would join LuxShare as the manufacturer of these AirPower pads. This isn’t the first time that this Taiwanese Electronics company has worked with Apple. They manufactured some iPhones for Apple in the past.
The product was supposed to hit the shelves in 2018, but got delayed several times. The AirPower wasn’t even mentioned during their iPhone XS launch event. This even led to some believing that the product got canned altogether. Interference and overheating issues were the biggest hurdles in manufacturing this device. This is because the AirPower was designed to wirelessly charge 3 – 4 devices rather than a single device like the conventional wireless chargers.
However, a while back, word started spreading around the internet that Apple seemed to have solved the overheating issue. This new coupled with ChargerLAB’s tweets implies AirPower could finally see the light of the day early this year. This also means Apple could launch the updated AirPods which support wireless charging alongside the AirPower. I believe it could be the same AirPods featured in the September 2018 Keynote’s opening film which had really advanced Siri integration.
