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What Finally Killed AirPower

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Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#241

Post by pvinis »

mcny wrote: post #151
bestnameever wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i've found what I believe to be the heat generated by wireless chargers to have a negative effect on my battery longevity. Personally, I avoid them now after being a huge advocate from them. The reality is, Battery life on phones have improved to the point that I also rarely need to charge my phone anymore other than what I'm about to go to sleep anyway.

» The reality is, Battery life on phones have improved to the point that I also rarely need to charge my phone anymore other than what I'm about to go to sleep anyway. On the Android side, batteries have gotten bigger with phones but more importantly the OS is getting better at battery management. With lineage 16 (Android pie), I can choose to enable battery saver at 75% battery. I'm still on a Nexus 6. What has chan…

I would not consider "enabling battery saver" as the OS getting better. I would if it battery saver was by default on, at which point it's not a "battery saver" mode, it's just normal mode.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#242

Post by two2two »

I would love for this all to be one elaborate April Fool's joke and it becomes available on Monday.

On a more technical note, this was a bit surprising to read: "'No one looks at [Electro-Magnetic Interference] until the end.' The FCC rules for wireless charging devices like AirPower are quite strict, and limit exposure at 20 cm (8 in) above the device to 50 mW/cm^2."

Depending at which point was "the end" of the AirPower development cycle, Apple either spent many many months attempting to remedy the problem with small enough breakthroughs to keep the marketing parade going, or Apple discovered something severe last minute. The issues discussed in this article, I would think, were well enough known for some time--still making this a perplexing story.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#243

Post by zachberger »

mcguire wrote: post #238
oe wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a dock and replaced it with wireless charger as soon as they were available. The ease of just placing your phone on a surface vs. lining up your phone with the dock is well worth it.

You mean lining it up precisely on the surface? That's why I stopped using a wireless charger.

The two Qi chargers I've used don't really require much lining up. With the Pixel Stand the alignment is obvious, I've never missed the alignment on that. I also have used Samsung's round, flat charger. Its a circle. Its hard to miss the center of the circle.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#244

Post by HenryBemis »

EdgarVerona wrote: post #82

Thinking about that theoretical effect on pacemakers and hearing aids makes me glad that we have safety regulations.

>And that can be difficult—that can stop someone’s pacemaker

It was that very point that made me think: thank you Apple, you ARE doing some things right! With risks like that, I like that they pulled the plug and they didn't take chances.

The battery fiasco on the other hands, I still cannot forgive that.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#245

Post by darkpuma »

dodobirdlord wrote: post #81
darkpuma wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can get an Amazon Basic's brand USB-C cable for $4.17 per meter. Apple sells theirs for $19 per meter. Is Apple selling these cables at cost, or are they making a profit from them? Amazon isn't a brand I trust either, but from the magnitude of that difference I'm pretty sure Apple is making a tidy profit on these cables. I don't think Apple is a trillion dollar company because of cable sales, but from where I sit i…

The USB-C standard is arcane and cables can have wildly different functionality and quality and still comply with the standard. Occam's razor suggests that there is not some cable markup conspiracy going on here. Higher quality cables + luxury brand tax is a far more reasonable solution.

> "+ luxury brand tax"

Well that's the contention isn't it? Whether that tax is present, and whether the mechanical build quality justifies it.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#246

Post by darkpuma »

katbyte wrote: post #45
darkpuma wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "Cables are subject to breaking (specifically the connectors)" Apple cables are. Somehow I don't have this problem with other brands... ever.

Don’t know what you do to your Apple cables but I don’t think I’ve ever bought one in however many years since iPhone 3s. I think two have gone bad, both replaced by Apple care.

Ah there it is, the obligatory blaming of the user. It's a well known fact that Apple makes cables with insufficient strain relief[0]; it's infuriating when somebody starts pretending that isn't the case. Cables aren't fruit, they aren't meant to "go bad". Even a cable that gets replaced for free is still a cable that gave me grief and wasted my time.

Even your claimed failure rate, 2 replacements in 10 years, is abysmal! That's what, 3 or 4 years per cable? I have cables 20+ years old that are as good as the day I bought them.

[0] https://hn.algolia.com/?query=Apple%20strain%20relief&type=c...

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#247

Post by novaleaf »

NeedMoreTea wrote: post #139
_bxg1 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It takes something easy and makes it effortless . Like AirPods, this has a surprising number of implications that you really don't think about until you try it. If I'm just setting my phone down on my desk and it's at 50%, and my cable is right there, I may not bother to plug it in. Especially if I might get up again in 5 or 10 minutes. But if I can just set it down in a particular place and regain a couple percentag…

This is what I never understood, even slightly. Why not just give an iPod / iPhone dock without all the wireless bullshit? I prefer a dock as it holds phone at a handy angle, syncs, and doesn't have the myriad of drawbacks of bluetooth. Smartphone battery life is so shit, on every model, that I always plug my phone in. Even if the cable / socket is only going to be around for minutes. So no saving here. In the days o…

maybe you use your phone agressively, but consider picking a phone with a good battery.

In my light use situation, my MotoG4 has aprox 2 days of battery. Under heavy use I can expect at least 12 hours. Add a phone compatible "rapid charger" and you can expect full charge in less than an hour.

My wife on the other hand, has a new Huaweii and it's battery lasts about 8 hours with moderate use. Not a phone I would consider, but she bought it for the fancy camera.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#248

Post by pnutjam »

azinman2 wrote: post #145
NeedMoreTea wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is what I never understood, even slightly. Why not just give an iPod / iPhone dock without all the wireless bullshit? I prefer a dock as it holds phone at a handy angle, syncs, and doesn't have the myriad of drawbacks of bluetooth. Smartphone battery life is so shit, on every model, that I always plug my phone in. Even if the cable / socket is only going to be around for minutes. So no saving here. In the days o…

Many people are not like you. I personally don’t plug in at my desk even though a cable is there, as it’s one more thing to do. It’s also then tethered, meaning I have an extra step if I want to walk away and bring my phone with me. It’s also tethered meaning I have a loose cable now dangling in my way, which aside from functional issues is also ugly to look at. I know many who almost never charge their phones, essen…

My solution is to get a phone that hold a charge for the day, Motorola makes some.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#249

Post by barrkel »

rorykoehler wrote: post #217
dorkwood wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I don't keep my phone at 100% while at my desk, and then I go out somewhere after work, there's a chance my phone will run down to 0% while I'm out, potentially stranding me somewhere. I don't think that's OCD. It's just planning ahead.

What kind of phone do you have? I get 2 full days use on a charge. Surely you need a new battery instead?

If I'm in an area with good connectivity I can easily last two days with my OnePlus. On the move, though, or in bad signal areas, and 20 hours might be the limit.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#250

Post by rincebrain »

veryworried wrote: post #84
rincebrain wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that not something many people can do one-handed? The last time I had any trouble doing that one-handed was in the era of proprietary inch-wide charge connectors.

That’s nice for you, but some of us suffer from disorders that lead to shaking hands and poor coordination, such that plugging in a device to such a small port is a grueling, sometimes impossible task. What then?

Sure, I wasn't trying to imply anything about people who, for one reason or another, had difficulty with or could not do it, I was just expressing surprise that this might be a much larger subset of people than I had previously thought.
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