iPhone 13 could finally get reverse wireless charging

iPhone thirteen could finally get reverse wireless charging

(Prototype credit: Tom'south Guide)

Wireless charging has been a part of Apple'southward mobile arsenal since 2017, but information technology could go its first significant upgrade since then with the iPhone 13.

That'due south co-ordinate to the latest video from EverythingApplePro, which cites well-connected tipster Max Weinbach with a rumor that the iPhone 13 models volition ship with a "slightly bigger" wireless charging coil. This, in turn, could be used to enable reverse wireless charging in the new phone, although that merits should be treated with a degree of skepticism.

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The video notes that the nearly likely reason for the bigger scroll would be to compensate for stronger MagSafe magnets, or to better deal with heat management and higher wattages. Only it too does tease another possibility, namely reverse wireless charging.

Reverse wireless charging is exactly what it sounds like, and is a feature that start went mainstream in Android with the Samsung Milky way S10. When enabled, the dorsum of your telephone becomes a wireless charging pad, letting you lot sacrifice a bit of your phone battery to accuse another compatible device. Typically, the devices you lot'd want to charge would take far smaller batteries (think truthful wireless earbuds or smartwatches) then you wouldn't lose besides much of your telephone'south precious juice in the process.

For Apple tree, it would certainly be an highly-seasoned feature, potentially offering an extra way of topping upwards both AirPods and the Apple Sentry — the latter of which has more strain than ever on its limited bombardment thanks to the introduction of slumber tracking in watchOS 7.

Nosotros know that Apple tree has been thinking along these lines. Indeed, a patent published final twelvemonth revealed that the iPhone 12 might really have reverse wireless charging built in already, only disabled for regular users. That's probably a smart motility, given the significant power drain such a feature requires and the weak battery power of the iPhone 12 family of handsets.

Nevertheless, an upgraded bombardment is something we believe will be coming with the iPhone thirteen — and that in turn makes it much more likely that this charging tech might be introduced with the side by side generation of Apple devices.

That said, "might" should nonetheless come underlined here, as fifty-fifty Weinbach doesn't seem sure on this point. At the signal in the video where the wireless charging coils are discussed (ii minutes in, if y'all desire to check for yourself), the direct quote at the lesser of the screen reads: "could also be for reverse wireless charging but not confirmed there."

It'due south also worth noting that some other well-connected source, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, claimed that reverse wireless charging is "unlikely in the near future" every bit recently as February.

We'll probably know for sure in September when, if recent form is annihilation to go by, Tim Cook will officially unveil the iPhone 13. Unless it's the iPhone 12s for superstitious reasons.

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Freelance contributor Alan has been writing about tech for over a decade, covering phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are found all over the spider web and in the occasional magazine as well. When not weighing upward the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you'll probably find him tackling his e'er-growing games backlog. Or, more than probable, playing Spelunky for the millionth time.