One of the rare products announced by Apple that never ended up on the shelves, the infamous AirPower remains one of the most mysterious devices in Apple history.

A “new old” prototype of the accessory, however, can help us understand part of this mystery, mainly by making it clearer why it was discontinued even before its launch.

Introduced to the world by profile @KosutamiSanthe prototype is from an early version of the product, when it still had only 15 charging coils — as opposed to the 21 present in later revisions.

The big difference between it and most other prototypes discovered in recent years is the fact that it is quite functional — including charging the Apple Watch — even though it is an older version.

To operate properly, however, the charged device must be perfectly aligned with one of the charging coils — a scenario in which the prototype operates without noticeable thermal problems.

Although, Kosutami revelou ao MacRumors The opposite happens with incorrect positioning of the device, with overheating problems to the point of melting the AirPods Pro charging case.