Apple’s iPhones have come with support for wireless charging for a while now, but with the launch of the new iPhone 12, Apple has included new hardware to support the company’s new MagSafe wireless charging feature. However, it turns out that MagSafe in the iPhone 12 might be hiding an unactivated feature.According to a tweet by VentureBeat’s Jeremy Horowitz, the FCC filing for the iPhone 12 makes mention of a possible latent reverse wireless charging feature in the handset. “In addition to being able to be charged by a desktop WPT charger (puck), 2020 iPhone models also support WPT charging function at 360 kHz to charge accessories [including] an external potential apple accessory in future.”
A new MagSafe feature was hidden in Apple FCC filings: “In addition to being able to be charged by a desktop WPT charger (puck), 2020 iPhone models also support WPT charging function at 360 kHz to charge accessories [including] an external potential apple accessory in future.”
— Jeremy Horwitz (@horwitz) October 28, 2020
Reverse wireless charging isn’t exactly a new feature and we’ve seen similar capabilities in other smartphones. However, the tech is iffy at best as it is usually too slow to be of any real use. However, some are speculating that the reverse wireless charging feature isn’t really for charging higher-powered devices like another smartphone, but possible future unannounced Apple MagSafe accessories.
Some believe that this could apply to future versions of the AirPods, where users might actually be able to use their iPhones to charge the earbuds. Apple already sells wireless charging cases for the AirPods, so this idea isn’t really that much of a stretch.
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