News
China to ban Apple’s 15W wireless chargers and Apple services experience outages
Key Points:
- China will ban the sale of 15W wireless chargers, including Apple’s MagSafe and Qi2 pads, starting September 1.
- The ban targets chargers using a 360kHz frequency, deemed to interfere with radio operations.
- Apple faced temporary outages across ten of its services, including Apple Books and Mac App Store, all now resolved.
Starting September 1, China will ban the sale of 15W wireless chargers, including Apple’s popular MagSafe and Qi2 charging pads. The Chinese government has stated that this ban is to prevent potential interference with radio communications, particularly in sensitive areas like aviation. The chargers affected by this regulation operate at a 360kHz frequency, which is outside the newly approved ranges.
China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has updated its radio frequency management regulations, now allowing only three specific frequency bands for mobile and portable wireless charging devices: 100-148.5kHz, 6765-6795kHz, and 13553-13567kHz. Additionally, the power output of these devices must not exceed 80W.
Apple’s 15W wireless chargers, including the MagSafe and Qi2 standards, use the 360kHz frequency. This update will prevent new sales of these chargers in China, though it won’t ban their use for devices already purchased. Notably, rumors suggest that Apple’s upcoming iPhone 16 might feature a thinner MagSafe charging ring, but it is expected to remain compatible with existing chargers.
Apple Services Experience Temporary Outages
In other Apple news, the company faced significant disruptions across ten of its services yesterday, with users experiencing various outages and performance issues. The affected services included Apple Books, Find My, Game Center, iCloud Mail, iWork for iCloud, and the Mac App Store, among others.
Apple confirmed these issues through its System Status webpage, noting that the problems began around 9:15 A.M. PT. The outages varied in impact, with some services being completely down, while others experienced slow or unavailable functionality. Apple has since resolved all the issues, and all services are back to normal operation.