AirPower prototype proves the Apple Watch actually works with Qi chargers

Macworld

Long after the project was cancelled for undisclosed reasons, Apple’s unreleased AirPower charger remains a fascinating glimpse of how things could have been. And even now, we’re learning new things about the product and its capabilities.

A short video clip posted to Twitter/X on Sunday suggests, in fact, that it could successfully charge an Apple Watch. An Apple Watch Series 4 is placed on a prototype of the AirPower charger, and begins to charge.

Prototype Apple AirPower with 16 coils (PROTO1) charging a Prototype Apple Watch Series 4 (DVT). It’s amazing that Apple Watch charging works, given wireless chargers today generally can’t charge Apple Watches. However, the Apple Watch on AirPower gets quite warm. #appleinternal pic.twitter.com/GfywG3KZS9— Apple Demo (@AppleDemoYT) April 7, 2024

This might not sound all that impressive, given that Apple’s original marketing materials clearly showed an Apple Watch among the devices being charged on AirPower. Its schtick, after all, was that it could power up an iPhone, an Apple Watch and an AirPods case at the same time, and juggle the throughput intelligently in such a way that each was charged as efficiently as possible.

But that’s where things get complicated. Apple never fully explained why it canceled the AirPower project in 2019, but sources suggest that the watch part of the equation was the problem. Either that the curved convex rear was too difficult to adapt to a flat charging mat, or that making the two devices work together caused insurmountable overheating.

Yet neither of those things seems to stop the prototype model from working with the Series 4 in the video despite no Apple Watch models working with standard Qi charging mats (even if you can get it to lay flat). Teardowns have shown that AirPower is nothing more than a Qi charging mat with lots of coils, so it’s not clear how the Apple Watch and AirPower communicate—but it shows that the Apple Watch could work with standard Qi charging mats if Apple wanted.

It’s probably worth mentioning that a certain amount of heat was detected. The tweet indicates that the watch gets “quite warm,” and that’s not generally a great sign. But still, it falls far short of the reported bursting into flame that some reports claimed around the time of cancellation. And in that sense represents a triumph and vindication for the ill-fated product.

There are plenty of chargers that can charge an iPhone and an Apple Watch (read our roundup of the best MagSafe iPhone chargers), but they all require an Apple Watch charging puck either built-in or attached separately. Maybe someday Apple will turn on universal Qi charging for the Apple Watch, but due to the convex underside it seems unlikely.








Belkin

Belkin


Belkin

The closest third-party 3-in-1 wireless charging solution is the Belkin Boost Charge Pro 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Pad with MagSafe. Unlike the AirPower, it includes a raisable Apple Watch charger, so can be used in Nightstand mode. It is fully Apple certified so can charge an iPhone 12/13/14/15 at up to 15W, and fast-charge any Apple Watch from Series 7 on. It is available direct from Apple and Belkin, in either white or black.

Accessories