Wireless charging for Apple devices, including its much vaunted AirPower, is taking its time
Apple, which hopes to eventually remove most external ports and buttons, is still announcing new devices and accessories well before they’re ready for market
San Francisco — When Apple introduced AirPods earbuds in 2016, chief designer Jony Ive hailed the beginning of a new "wireless future." The company’s devices would connect and charge without fiddly white cords and unsightly plugs and sockets. The next step was wireless charging for the iPhone, the ability to drop Apple’s flagship product on a charging mat and juice it up via a process known as induction. This accessory is taking longer to make due to a series of technical hurdles, slowing the company’s wireless strategy and highlighting supply-chain challenges that have hampered product launches in recent years. Apple said in September that the iPhone X and iPhone 8 could be charged wirelessly. It recommended charging hubs from Mophie and Belkin, an unusual move for the consumer-hardware specialist. Apple also announced its own AirPower charger, but said it wouldn’t be released until 2018.
Since then, AirPower hasn’t been publicly discussed by Apple. Company engineers have bee...
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