Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Technology
Apple's iPhone 12 seems to have a hidden wireless reverse charge feature
Apple's iPhone 12 range has the potential to wirelessly charge an external accessory, according to a set of recently revealed FCC files that were only released yesterday. The documents first spotted by VentureBeat's Jeremy Horwitz say the phone supports the built-in inductive charging transmitter and receiver. Apple has not publicly revealed any other features that could be used to charge potential AirPods or Apple 's long speculated Tile rival called "AirTags."
'In addition to being able to charge the desktop WPT [wireless power transfer] charger (puck), 2020 iPhone versions ... also support the WPT charging feature at 360 kHz for charging accessories,' reads one of the papers. It lists a series of recent iPhone FCC IDs, including iPhone 12 mini (BCG-E3539A), iPhone 12 (BCG-E3542A), iPhone 12 Pro (BCG-E3545A) and iPhone 12 Pro Max (BCG-E3548A). The overall inverted wireless charging speed is 5W if we read the documents right.
The iPhones 12 series follows Apple's new MagSafe standard, which uses magnets within phones to better match compatible accessories correctly, including a new Qi-compatible wireless adapter. However, Apple has not revealed any form of wireless reverse charge for tablets, and they do not seem to be able to charge any smartphones currently on the market.
It sounds like the iPhone 12's reverse wireless charging can be limited, at least at first. Documents state that actually the only accessory that can be charged to iPhones is an external possible apple accessory in the future and that reverse charging actually only happens while the handset is attached to an AC power outlet. FCC research seems to have been conducted using only a wall charger and USB-C cable, presumably the same USB-C to Lighting cable bundled with each iPhone 12.
It sounds like the technology is intended to encourage you to minimize the amount of charge clutter on a night stand by, for example, wirelessly charging a pair of AirPods magnetically connected to an iPhone that is plugged into the wall. However, as the paper goes on to say, this could change in the future. Future designs and accessories can support true portable use, with a host-client pair in a pocket or a backpack.
It's not clear why Apple didn't publicly unveil the feature when it unveiled the phones themselves, but it may be because the feature-based accessory isn't ready to be published yet. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman is speculating that he may be working on the forthcoming AirPods revamp, which was revealed earlier this week.
Reverse wireless charging capability doesn't seem to need anything in the form of new technology, at least nothing that iFixit has seen when tearing down older phones.
