According to leaked images of Apple's latest prototype, the AirPower charging pad could look like this And with any luck, it will be released at the same time as the iPhone 12

Jon Prosser of Front Page Tech, who has covered the new AirPower charger several times, has shown us his own mockup of the Apple-branded wireless charging pad His rendering has the necessary iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods cases, as well as a Lightning cable to provide power However, Prosser does not believe that the Lightning connector will be used in the final version, and that USB-C could be used, like the iPad Pro

The concept is based on Prosser's earlier tweets, which included leaked images of what he called the "C68," the latest prototype of a revived Apple wireless charger The series of tweets also revealed that the successor to AirPower will feature an A11 CPU, the chip that powers the iPhone 8 and iPhone X and helps manage power distribution

This is apparently necessary because the Apple Watch requires higher power consumption than Apple's other gadgets Placing the Apple Watch on an older version of the AirPower mat could cause the mat to overheat and even catch fire, according to Prosser; the addition of A11 makes it easier to manage the heat by turning the internal charging coil on and off as needed

According to Prosser, the new AirPower is expected to be available in late 2020, which would coincide with the planned launch of the iPhone 12 or at the latest in early 2021 The product will reportedly sell for $250, which is considerably more expensive than the average wireless charging pad