Apple made a big impact with its wireless iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus last year, but there was big piece of the puzzle missing. Instead of having its own wireless charging pad ready at launch, it delayed the release of its AirPower mat to 2018 without telling anyone just how long they’d have to wait for it.
Lifting the air of mystery around the AirPower is a new post by Japanese blog Macotakara. According to the site, Apple is going to kick off sales of the accessory at some point in March. Sadly, no specific dates were offered. The Apple Post made similar claims earlier this month, so that’s 2 separate reports pointing to the same timeline.
Other than Apple Stores, even Best Buy outlets are set to get stock of the AirPower starting from day one. The device has been very eagerly anticipated by the Apple faithful who can charge their iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods on the mat without a wire in sight.
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AirPods cases currently come with a Lightning connection though, so owners will have to buy a separate wireless charging case for the earbuds. Apple’s going to sell standalone wireless AirPods charging cases only through its own outlets, leaving third-party shops to sell the case as a bundle with new AirPods.
It would be nice if Apple came out with a AirPods charging case which supported both wireless and wired charging, but that doesn’t look like it’s happening any time soon. Till then, consumers will have to splurge extra for the privilege of getting rid of cables.
How much they’ll have to spend isn’t even clear yet since Apple hasn’t disclosed how much the AirPower or standalone AirPods wireless charging case is priced at. Past rumors have hinted at $199 for the former, but this could easily be wrong.