Today, Apple head Tim Cook announced all the updated software coming to the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. In doing so, the event was devoid of hardware announcements, including any updates on two products it had previously announced: AirPower and the revamped AirPods case.
This begs the question: Where the hell are they?
Last fall, during its annual iPhone announcement event in September, Apple proudly announced wireless charging functionality was (finally) coming to the iPhone. This was the perfect time to announce its own wireless charger that would work with all of its products, and it did. The AirPower was unveiled as Apple’s perfect medium to charge the iPhone, Apple Watch and even the AirPods (with a new wireless charging case also announced) on a single, neat charging pad.
It all perfectly followed Apple’s meticulous nature for seamless integration and new helmed platitude: no more wires.
Nine months later, the AirPower and wireless AirPods charging case are nowhere to be seen. In fact, Apple hasn’t even acknowledged the two products since their initial announcements. Pricing hasn’t been announced, let alone a release date, so we’re just wondering what happened to the two products.
Honestly, we have no idea.
Yet, for some reason, Apple has stumbled into a never-ending delay for these two products. It’s coming dangerously close to releasing two products an entire year after they were announced. The question as to whether AirPower or wireless AirPods case will ever be released actually has some credence now, which is something that has never happened with Apple before.
Sure, the HomePod and AirPods were delayed, too, the former by two months and the latter by just over two months. But that was by a couple of months after their original release date. Apple never set a release date for the AirPower or wireless AirPods case, which should have given us some insight into the problems it was going to have in getting the products released.
It’s unacceptable and disappointing. Apple missed a huge opportunity in selling a ton of AirPower units to iPhone users ready to go all in with wireless charging, including myself. Instead, I bought a wireless charger from its archnemesis, Samsung, and I suspect many more iPhone users did as well.
Right now, there are only three possible options to when we might see the long-missing Apple products: a random and unimportant date this summer, the September iPhone event, or at a date later this year. I won’t entertain the possibility of Apple never releasing either product (for the time being) since it would be such an embarrassing gaffe for Apple.
Until then, we’ll go on living life like AirPower and the new AirPods case were never announced because at this point, they may as well never have been.
