AirPower: Teardown of a prototype shows how complex the cancelled Apple charging pad was as canned official advert does the rounds again

The AirPower should have been the wireless charging pad to rule them all, with it able to charge three devices simultaneously no matter how you place them. As has been well documented, the AirPower did not come to pass and was cancelled last year. There has been talk of Apple resurrecting the AirPower though, and now someone has got their hands on a prototype.

Unlike Xiaomi's new motorised wireless charging pad, which moves its charging coil towards a single device on rails, the AirPower has a myriad of charging coils that overlap each other. Specifically, the teardown of a prototype reveals that Apple included fourteen coils, although it could only charge three devices simultaneously. Unsurprisingly, this volume of charging coils caused the AirPower to overheat and even catch fire in some instances. As it stands, the inside of the AirPower is intricate and considerably more complex than other wireless charging pads.