In 2017, Apple first announced the AirPower wireless charging pad. This device, which should have been on the market in 2018, was cancelled by Apple in March 2019.
At the time, Dan Riccio, the vice president of hardware development, said, "After trying hard, we found that AirPower could not meet our high standards, so we cancelled it."
However, it is strange that an Apple patent (20200059113) published today shows that two months after the cancellation of the AirPower project, Apple filed a new patent related to the wireless charging pad.
The patent describes the energy transfer mechanism of a wireless charging pad and how to respond in order when multiple charged devices request a "handshake".
Apple's patent authors include Srinivasa T A Pillai, a hardware engineer for wireless charging and product development, Daniel Ye, an iOS charging system engineer, and Marco Rondinini, a firmware/human interaction engineer.
Some people think that Apple accidentally solved the existing problems of AirPower, and this device was reborn.