Snippet: AirPower Cancelled ☇

Benjamin Mayo:

I’m sad that the product will not exist and I’m also not thrilled with how Apple handled the cancellation. When Apple finally decided to release the AirPods wireless charging case earlier this month, which carried a hefty premium over the normal second-generation AirPods, they clearly knew that they had given up on the mat. They decided to wait until after the rush of AirPods orders had gone through to announce AirPower’s fate. Therefore, plenty of people bought the wireless charging model with the AirPower mat use case in mind, none the wiser to Apple’s internal plans. I am one of those buyers. Apple made more money by making its announcements public in that order. Even if the total of those purchases is small, it is a bit sketchy. I know I regret paying the extra £40 for my new AirPods.

I wholeheartedly agree that Apple handled the numerous delays and eventual cancellation poorly. AirPower being delayed had been a thing for so long that I (like many who spoke about it last week) had to look up when it was originally shown off, when it was originally expected to ship, and when any news on delays started. After a bit of time, anyone who wanted to use wireless inductive charging had moved on to the various third-party Qi options out there—I have numerous ones scattered around my home and office, probably for less than I would’ve spent on an AirPower mat.

On the flip-side, Apple should’ve killed it before the Qi-capable AirPods case was introduced because it did send some mixed messages. Initially, there was talk about the AirPods case charging via a proprietary means like the Apple Watch, so I assumed that a Qi-capable case meant that AirPower was dead, but that was a consolation prize. Many others thought that it was confirmation that AirPower was happening, and I’m sure a few people fell somewhere in the middle. The upgraded AirPods are within the return window, so if someone got them with the intent of using AirPower, but now cannot, there are a few days left to do a downgrade exchange. Regardless, I’m glad that this chapter is finally over because it went on for much too long.