Apple files for another patent for an AirPower-like device

Apple may have abandoned plans for its AirPower wireless charger, but that doesn’t mean the company has abandoned plans for such a device. The tech giant has filed for another patent (number 20190199144) for a “wireless system with ambient field nulling.”

AirPower was originally announced in September 2017 alongside the iPhone X. It was supposed to be able to charge a Qi-compatible iPhone, an Apple Watch, and a pair of AirPods (in a special wireless charging case) at the same time regardless of where they were placed on the pad. However, Apple announced in March that work on the device was being canceled as, in Apple’s words, “will not achieve our high standards.”

The new patent filing involves a wireless charging mat that wirelessly transmits power to a portable electronic device placed on the mat. The portable electronic device has a receiving coil and rectifier circuitry for receiving wireless alternating-current (AC) power from a coil in the wireless charging mat that is overlapped by the receiving coil. The rectifier converts received AC power into direct-current (DC) power. 

Of course, Apple files for — and is granted — lots of patents by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Many are for inventions that never see the light of day. However, you never can tell which ones will materialize in a real product.