Apple Acquires PowerbyProxi Ahead Of AirPower Charging Mat’s Release

Apple has acquired a small firm that specializes in wireless charging technology ahead of the release of its AirPower mat. The Cupertino giant’s latest acquisition is just part of its efforts to establishing a wireless future for consumers.

On Tuesday, Tim Cook’s company announced that it has purchased PowerbyProxi, a New Zealand-based firm that concentrates on developing wireless charging solutions based on the Qi wireless standard. The sum involved in the agreement wasn’t disclosed.

Apple SVP of Hardware Engineering Dan Riccio confirmed to Stuff the acquisition, saying the “[PowerbyProxi] team will be a great addition as Apple works to create a wireless future.” He added, “We want to bring truly effortless charging to more places and more customers around the world.”

While Apple’s plan for PowerbyProxi isn’t known yet, technology industry body NZTech CEO Graeme Muller already forecasts that the Auckland firm could have a role in the tech giant’s goal of making wireless charging ubiquitous in all Apple devices. This of course has become apparent when Apple introduced its AirPower charging mat during its press event for the new generation iPhones and Apple Watch.

Apple’s AirPower charging station does not have a release date yet, but the company has already teased that it is hitting the market next year. Details on its pricing are also not available as of this time. What’s known for now is that it supports the Apple Watch, the new charging case of the AirPods and the three new iPhones — iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and the upcoming iPhone X.

Apple has promised that the AirPower will be capable of simultaneously charging supported devices. However, the total wattage it is capable of providing is still undisclosed. Industry sources believe that the charging mat would output more power than existing one-device wireless charging pads.

PowerbyProxi was founded in 2007 by Auckland businessman Fady Mishriki. It is actually a spin-off of a University of Auckland project that gained international recognition for its creation of wireless charging systems that are based on the Qi wireless standard.

PowerbyProxi has its own line of products. Its lineup is headlined by the Proxi-Module platform, which is a modular wireless power and data transfer system made for high-power applications. The firm also markets an add-on unit called Proxi-Com that technically works with the Proxi-Module in converting wired data signals to wireless, as per Apple Insider.

Apple usually orders hardware companies it purchased to cease production of their products. Most of the time, the teams of acquired firms end up working on in-house initiatives by Apple. In this case, it’s still unknown if PowerbyProxi would be asked to do the same, or if the firm would be given leeway to continue selling its products.

It’s very likely that the PowerbyProxi team will be asked by Apple to work on high-power solutions for the latter’s larger devices, such as the iPad series and the Mac devices. If true, it would only be a matter of time until Apple introduces a new generation of devices that are all capable of charging wirelessly.