Apple Watchers Zero In on AirPower Hints Amid Flurry of Spring Hardware News

Apple followers picked up the scent of the company’s dormant AirPower wireless charging pad (see 1710060023) this week, as rumors swirled about the mat’s impending release in a staggered spring hardware rollout. Apple announced an iPad refresh Monday (see 1903180027) and updated AirPods Wednesday. Thursday, Apple watcher MacRumors spied what appeared to be a new image of an AirPower positioned with an iPhone XS and the wireless charging case for the second-generation AirPods, after Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal report that Apple finally approved production of the wireless charging accessory. Apple first teased AirPower during the September 2017 iPhone 8 launch event. MacRumors used source code from the AirPods page of Apple’s website in Australia that showed “more evidence” Apple plans to release the wireless charging mat "at some point." The updated AirPods page was intended to showcase the new optional wireless charging case on a charging mat, “but Apple never ended up featuring the image publicly,” said the publication, which found it “hidden within a CSS stylesheet.” Apple didn’t comment.