One key ingredient was missing when the iPhone 14 launched last fall: reverse wireless charging. But sources cited by 9to5Mac report that Apple originally planned to include the feature, and would have done so had the company’s engineering teams not missed the deadline to complete development work.
Reverse charging, also known as bilateral charging, is a feature where a device can both receive and transmit wireless charging. It’s been available on high-end Android phones like the Galaxy S23 for years.
Technically, as 9to5Mac notes, the iPhone has included a rudimentary version of this feature since the launch of the iPhone 12: plug your device into a power outlet, connect a MagSafe battery to the back, and it will start charging. recharge. But “true” reverse charging would give the iPhone the ability to charge a much wider range of accessories, and allow it to do so from just the battery rather than passing mains power “through” its frame. The most obvious application would be charging an AirPods case when placed on the back of the iPhone, but any Qi compatible accessory would presumably be able to work with the system.
Reverse charging is an eternal iPhone rumor. Some thought this would happen (literally) with the iPhone 12 – although these hardware developments turned out to be only for the MagSafe battery – and the same idea was predicted for the iPhone 13. Unsurprisingly, experts have repeated their request for the iPhone 14, but now it seems they were at least partly right.
9to5Mac, citing “anonymous sources familiar with the matter,” says the feature was expected to be included in new iPhone Pros last year, providing another incentive for users to choose the more expensive models. The company hasn’t hit its own deadline for the feature’s completion, which means it hasn’t made it, but hopes to include it in a future model.
The sources offer more details on Apple’s plans in this area, which provide clues as to why the company was unable to complete the project on time. This is, for example, a project with both hardware and software components, since Apple also wants to provide on-screen animations and sound effects to indicate that reverse charging is in progress, and presumably to guide the user through the process. On the hardware side, the sources claim that Apple is “developing unique ‘Wireless Power Output’ firmware as the basis of the feature”, and wrestling with issues of heat management, efficiency and charging speed. .
This new report will inevitably lead to rumors that reverse charging will finally arrive with the launch of the iPhone 15 later this year, but 9to5Mac cautions against such optimism. Site sources warn that the feature could be delayed again, or even removed entirely.
