Disappointed is an understatement. I've been waiting for it since they gave us a sneak peak. Let's be honest, its a massive egg on Tim Apples face right now, he basically promised and failed to deliver - someone in the engineering department should be getting a big telling off for saying that it's not far off final production.
GOOD NEWS:
I ordered a SliceCharge Pro yesterday - initially for use as a travel charger or use in other rooms while I waited for the AirPower so I advise you all take a look at it before you cancel your wireless AirPods case. The link is below, thank me later!
Well that sucks, but just ordered the Nomad + Apple Watch charger that I was on the fence about instead. The Apple solution didn’t look like it would support nightstand mode for the watch anyway like the Nomad does.
Is this the first time Apple have cancelled a pre-announced product before it launched? Only thing even remotely similar I can remember is the 3Ghz G5, which wasn't an announcement so much as a vague promise.
I wonder if they'll go back to the old favourite of only announcing things that are ready to ship the same day.
There was a period in the 90s where multiple announcements regarding then Mac OS just fizzled out and never was released in any useable from, if at all. This was also a period of customer frustration.
SJ firmed it up when he returned to Apple and you will be hard pressed to find any announcements not shipping during his two periods of leadership.
"SJ firmed it up when he returned to Apple and you will be hard pressed to find any announcements not shipping during his two periods of leadership."
The 3GHZ PowerMac G5. Mac OSX Leopard. While it was released, it was pushed back 5 months from announcement in favor of the release of the iPhone. Facetime Open Standard. Annouced at the 2010 WWDC.
Ironic that the same people who complain about Apple "teasing us with vaporware" also complain that Apple keeps us in the dark about products they are working on.
Is this the first time Apple have cancelled a pre-announced product before it launched? Only thing even remotely similar I can remember is the 3Ghz G5, which wasn't an announcement so much as a vague promise.
I wonder if they'll go back to the old favourite of only announcing things that are ready to ship the same day.
Seems like this is the week that this keeps needing to be repeated. The inimitable Steve Jobs announced iPhone six monthsbefore it was released. That presentation was famously on the verge of disaster because the device was nowhere near ready.
There are any number of reasons to announce a product early. They want to get ahead of the rumors that will inevitably start filtering out. They want to generate buzz that will build up in the interim. They want to lay down a marker to preempt other companies’ product announcements and/or give brand-loyal customers the option to wait for the Apple thing, rather than buy a different brand, not realizing the Apple thing was just around the corner. Nobody wants to announce something that later gets cancelled, and it’s undoubtedly embarrassing for Apple. Still, their overall track record is pretty good for coming through with what they announce. I seriously doubt that they’ll quit announcing products that are still under development.
Entitlement invites disappointment. Disappointment has become the standard now. What must it be like to muddle through life disappointed with everything? No excitement, no joy, no happiness, just perpetual disappointment and depression. Is this the state of arrogant faux techie life now? Just bought a new car but disappointed it doesn’t support wireless CarPlay so I returned it. Just bought a new AVR but disappointed it doesn’t support HDR 10 or dolby Atmos so I returned it. Techie life is hell.
The term “entitlement” is getting a tad overused here. It’s designed to curtail debate. I personally don’t feel entitled to this product as I don’t need it. Nevertheless Apple messed up.
Since it was unveiled, I have wondered about the utility of wireless charging in the home especially if you have an Apple Watch or an iPad Pro in addition to your iPhone.
For me, the solution is the Anker wired charger with one USB-C output for my iPad Pro and four lightning outputs for my iPhone and the Apple watch puck.
Outside the home in a coffee place, placing your iPhone on a mat without wires is fine but for home use, wireless charging is unnecessary. That is my opinion but I would be interested in seeing comments on this subject.
I've had several iPhones where the charging port and/or the cables wore out. Although I haven't had any problems yet, I'm concerned about the USB-C charging port on my MBP. The old Mag-Safe connector seemed less prone to wear (aside from the cable itself possibly fraying). So the advantage to a wireless charging pad would be less stress on the ports. And of course it's slightly easier to just put a device down then having to put the device down and search for the cable and plug it in. Obviously, it's a first world problem and not that big a deal, but wireless charging would have been "nice". It works for my electric toothbrush!
"The old Mag-Safe connector seemed less prone to wear (aside from the cable itself possibly fraying)."
Oh no, the Magsafe connector sparked and caught fire often. You can google this and see it in pictures. Apple tried to fix it with Magsafe 2 but customers still had electrical issues with it. I'm sure that's why it's gone, in favor of USB-C, which I personally prefer and is much more convenient.
Kind of troubling. It can't be the engineering, since there are a billion Tom/Dick/Harry Qi chargers out there... Can't be manufacturing, since Apple makes far more complex things.
"Can't meet our high standards"? So what was it, really?
The current Qi charging mats require fairly well aligned devices. This was supposed to allow the devices to charge in any position on the mat. I'm an electronics engineer and have experience with wifi charging/power transfer/RFID, and I'm not really sure how Apple thought they'd achieve arbitrary positioning whilst keeping both a reasonable efficiency and compatibility (on the device side) with Qi. It is certainly possible to have several devices charging within a single magnetic field, but it's much more difficult to optimise efficiency in that scenario, to limit heat dissipation and to output enough power in that coil both to comply with regulatory agencies and for a reasonable charging speed.
Kind of troubling. It can't be the engineering, since there are a billion Tom/Dick/Harry Qi chargers out there... Can't be manufacturing, since Apple makes far more complex things.
"Can't meet our high standards"? So what was it, really?
Proven totally useless...
Indeed. It is not portable. Since it cannot get rid of the wall and the cable, why would I carry a whole plate instead of carrying a simple cable?
Wired wireless charging was a stupid idea since the beginning. Maybe finally engineers are prevailing over marketing guys there?
Kind of troubling. It can't be the engineering, since there are a billion Tom/Dick/Harry Qi chargers out there... Can't be manufacturing, since Apple makes far more complex things.
"Can't meet our high standards"? So what was it, really?
The current Qi charging mats require fairly well aligned devices. This was supposed to allow the devices to charge in any position on the mat. I'm an electronics engineer and have experience with wifi charging/power transfer/RFID, and I'm not really sure how Apple thought they'd achieve arbitrary positioning whilst keeping both a reasonable efficiency and compatibility (on the device side) with Qi. It is certainly possible to have several devices charging within a single magnetic field, but it's much more difficult to optimise efficiency in that scenario, to limit heat dissipation and to output enough power in that coil both to comply with regulatory agencies and for a reasonable charging speed.
Do you suppose then that they were having trouble getting RFI under acceptable levels?
This cancellation was announced by Dan Riccio (who is never on stage and rarely speaks publicly) and not Phil Schiller. Makes me wonder then if it was engineering over promising something they couldn’t deliver rather than marketing jumping the gun.
Is this the first time Apple have cancelled a pre-announced product before it launched? Only thing even remotely similar I can remember is the 3Ghz G5, which wasn't an announcement so much as a vague promise.
I wonder if they'll go back to the old favourite of only announcing things that are ready to ship the same day.
There was a period in the 90s where multiple announcements regarding then Mac OS just fizzled out and never was released in any useable from, if at all. This was also a period of customer frustration.
SJ firmed it up when he returned to Apple and you will be hard pressed to find any announcements not shipping during his two periods of leadership.
"SJ firmed it up when he returned to Apple and you will be hard pressed to find any announcements not shipping during his two periods of leadership."
The 3GHZ PowerMac G5. Mac OSX Leopard. While it was released, it was pushed back 5 months from announcement in favor of the release of the iPhone. Facetime Open Standard. Annouced at the 2010 WWDC.
The 3GHz powermac was an external problem. delayed software isn’t the same as abandoning something the reasons there for the FaceTime issue are also external, Apple has patent issues.
The funny thing here wasnt that Apple abandoned something that didn’t work internally but that they announced something that wasn’t ever going to be ready. They probably have plenty of products that will never see the light of day but they don’t announce em.
"Yet, that graphic was not present on the shipping AirPods"
I've seen a few unboxings of the new AirPods and the AirPower graphic is definitely there. It also shows a copyright year of 2018, so they clearly meant to ship it at some point, but ran into the production issues once they started mass producing them.
Glad they're up front about it. Apple will survive just fine. This is only an indicator that their QC is actually doing its job, unlike what the haters keep saying.
Is this the first time Apple have cancelled a pre-announced product before it launched? Only thing even remotely similar I can remember is the 3Ghz G5, which wasn't an announcement so much as a vague promise.
I wonder if they'll go back to the old favourite of only announcing things that are ready to ship the same day.
There was a period in the 90s where multiple announcements regarding then Mac OS just fizzled out and never was released in any useable from, if at all. This was also a period of customer frustration.
SJ firmed it up when he returned to Apple and you will be hard pressed to find any announcements not shipping during his two periods of leadership.
"SJ firmed it up when he returned to Apple and you will be hard pressed to find any announcements not shipping during his two periods of leadership."
The 3GHZ PowerMac G5. Mac OSX Leopard. While it was released, it was pushed back 5 months from announcement in favor of the release of the iPhone. Facetime Open Standard. Annouced at the 2010 WWDC.
As we all know there is a reason why Apple swapped to Intel processors and the cold, hard fact is that IBM was not interested in producing the processors Apple needed for their desktop and portable products. So what happened at the end of the PowerPC product line was in many ways outside of Apple's control.
Mac OSX Leopard shipped, and while it was delayed somewhat, that was to coordinate the system software on Macs to work in tandem with the system software on an entirely new product line; the iPhone. This is not a trivial task. The complexity is infinitely higher than producing a charging device.
Facetime Open Standard - meh. The minute you start publishing something to be an open standard, it takes on a life of its own. They would probably have been more successful by following the Swift route and open sourced it once it had reached a certain maturity level. But as you also see with Swift, they largely lose control of the process of driving it to meet their needs.
I purchased a decent high charge Qi charger at Target and set it up in our kitchen. My wife and I love just dropping our iPhones or the new AirPods on it for a decent charge when it’s handy. It was ~$40, so not a big ticket item, but convenient when we need a charge after work. I’m disappointed Apple cancelled the AirPower mat, but not disheartened.
Comments
"SJ firmed it up when he returned to Apple and you will be hard pressed to find any announcements not shipping during his two periods of leadership."
The 3GHZ PowerMac G5.
Mac OSX Leopard. While it was released, it was pushed back 5 months from announcement in favor of the release of the iPhone.
Facetime Open Standard. Annouced at the 2010 WWDC.
There are any number of reasons to announce a product early. They want to get ahead of the rumors that will inevitably start filtering out. They want to generate buzz that will build up in the interim. They want to lay down a marker to preempt other companies’ product announcements and/or give brand-loyal customers the option to wait for the Apple thing, rather than buy a different brand, not realizing the Apple thing was just around the corner. Nobody wants to announce something that later gets cancelled, and it’s undoubtedly embarrassing for Apple. Still, their overall track record is pretty good for coming through with what they announce. I seriously doubt that they’ll quit announcing products that are still under development.
Oh no, the Magsafe connector sparked and caught fire often. You can google this and see it in pictures. Apple tried to fix it with Magsafe 2 but customers still had electrical issues with it. I'm sure that's why it's gone, in favor of USB-C, which I personally prefer and is much more convenient.
The current Qi charging mats require fairly well aligned devices. This was supposed to allow the devices to charge in any position on the mat. I'm an electronics engineer and have experience with wifi charging/power transfer/RFID, and I'm not really sure how Apple thought they'd achieve arbitrary positioning whilst keeping both a reasonable efficiency and compatibility (on the device side) with Qi. It is certainly possible to have several devices charging within a single magnetic field, but it's much more difficult to optimise efficiency in that scenario, to limit heat dissipation and to output enough power in that coil both to comply with regulatory agencies and for a reasonable charging speed.
Indeed. It is not portable. Since it cannot get rid of the wall and the cable, why would I carry a whole plate instead of carrying a simple cable?
Wired wireless charging was a stupid idea since the beginning. Maybe finally engineers are prevailing over marketing guys there?
delayed software isn’t the same as abandoning something
the reasons there for the FaceTime issue are also external, Apple has patent issues.
The funny thing here wasnt that Apple abandoned something that didn’t work internally but that they announced something that wasn’t ever going to be ready. They probably have plenty of products that will never see the light of day but they don’t announce em.
I've seen a few unboxings of the new AirPods and the AirPower graphic is definitely there. It also shows a copyright year of 2018, so they clearly meant to ship it at some point, but ran into the production issues once they started mass producing them.
Glad they're up front about it. Apple will survive just fine. This is only an indicator that their QC is actually doing its job, unlike what the haters keep saying.
Mac OSX Leopard shipped, and while it was delayed somewhat, that was to coordinate the system software on Macs to work in tandem with the system software on an entirely new product line; the iPhone. This is not a trivial task. The complexity is infinitely higher than producing a charging device.
Facetime Open Standard - meh. The minute you start publishing something to be an open standard, it takes on a life of its own. They would probably have been more successful by following the Swift route and open sourced it once it had reached a certain maturity level. But as you also see with Swift, they largely lose control of the process of driving it to meet their needs.
https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/03/21/your-mac-could-wirelessly-power-keyboards-and-mice-at-a-distance-in-the-future
https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/03/22/next-iphone-rumored-to-adopt-wireless-powershare-tech-for-powering-other-devices-fast-usb-c-pd-charging