Guess ‘Watt’? AirPower Isn’t Dead; Reference Spotted on iPhone XS Packaging

Sep. 21, 2018

After theiPhone XS,iPhone XS Max, andiPhone XRwere unveiled at this year’s iPhone event in Cupertino without any mention of the AirPower (so much so, in fact, that Apple didn’t talk about wireless charging on the new iPhones at all), we all expected that the charging mat was done for good. Turns out, it’s not.

According to images shared of the new iPhone XS packaging, the getting started guide quite clearly mentions AirPower in the segment about wireless charging for the iPhone. The exact line reads thus:“Place iPhone with screen facing up on AirPower or a Qi-certified wireless charger.”

Now that could very well be a mistake, but Apple isn’t the kind of company that makes these kind of mistakes. It just isn’t, so the only plausible explanation for this reference is that while the company is really cutting it close with AirPower’s launch, it still is working on the wireless charger for the iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods.

If that’s not proof enough, reference to AirPower has also been spotted in the code foriOS 12.1 beta.9to5Maclooked into the code, and they spotted thatthe component of iOS responsible for managing the charging interface which shows up when charging the iPhone on AirPower, has been updated, which is a clear indication that Apple is working on the mythical charging mat.