Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Neat, wireless charging, exactly like I had on my Nexus 5, around 5 years ago :) And I think we can all be grateful Apple decided to go with the Qi standard here rather than roll their own! What a mess that would have been...
Remains to be seen if this Airpower thing will be that.
I do half-suspect Apple probably tried coming up with a better solution (e.g. one not involving a charging mat), but ran into technical (probably laws-of-physics) challenges and went with Qi instead, because otherwise there's really no reason they couldn't have done this earlier. Or perhaps they just needed the time to re-tool for a glass case, who knows.