The CultCast #382 - Death of AirPower: what no one's talking about!
This week: AirPower—the real problem no one else is talking about… Plus: 2019 iPhone rumors point to some wildly useful new features; more evidence the 2018 MacBook, Air and Pro keyboards are STILL having issues. And we wrap up with a review of Leander’s favorite wireless charging mat, Lewis’ take on the new AirPods 2, and Erfon’s got a favorite new podcasting gadget on an all-new Under Review
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On the show this week
@erfon / @lewiswallace / @lkahney
Pre-Order Leander's new book, signed!
What went wrong with Apple’s doomed AirPower charging mat?
- AirPower is officially dead. It’s the first time in Apple’s history that they canceled an announced, but unreleased product.
- It’s been about 1.5 years since Apple titillated fans by revealing a wireless charging mat that supposedly would charge not one, not two, but three Apple devices at the same time.
- Overheating problems reportedly posed the biggest hurdle for bringing AirPower to market. We heard rumors and rumblings for more than a year that Apple faced serious technical hurdles as it tried to make AirPower a reality.
- Most wireless charging mats have only one power-generating coil. Some specialized chargers offer two coils, placed far apart. Apple tried to put three or more charging coils into one pad so you could place your device anywhere and it would start charging.
- One of John Gruber’s sources said the design would never work; it violated the laws of physics.
- But here’s the real AirPower problem no one’s talking about…
Two-way charging and bigger batteries rumored for 2019 iPhones
- According to a new report from Mind Chi Kuo, Apple is reportedly planning to add two-way charging that will allow it to recharge your Apple Watch, AirPods and even other iPhones.
- Now if this feature sounds familiar, it may be because Samsung included on the Galaxy S10+...
- Kuo also claims battery capacity will increase between 10 percent and 25 percent on the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max successors. The iPhone XS successor will get the biggest gains, while the iPhone XR successor is expected to get minimal battery gains
- Other rumored features for the 2019 iPhone lineup includes a three-lens camera on the back, improved Face ID sensors, a more powerful A13 processor and possibly support for Apple Pencil
The MacBook keyboard fiasco is way worse than Apple thinks
- David Heinemeier Hansson. Founder of Basecamp. Creator of Ruby on Rails.
- Apple keep in