Despite introducing accessories that can charge wirelessly, Apple has yet to enable or ship reverse wireless charging on its iPhone. While MagSafe was introduced with the iPhone 12 series, reports also indicated that the iPhone 12 was also capable of reverse wireless charging, but the feature was never enabled. According to various reports, Apple had encountered several hurdles and missed deadlines in preparing for the feature, but everything is back on track and currently in development, according to a new report. Apple is even working on new firmware that will support reverse wireless functionality, but there’s no telling when it will arrive on an iPhone.
Accordingly 9to5Mac, Apple is currently working to bring the reverse wireless charging feature to future iPhone models. The publication claims that Apple wanted to ship the feature in its iPhone 14 pro And iPhone 14 pro max models, but missed the deadline to do so due to various technical hurdles. However, everything is now back on track and Apple’s engineers are reportedly working to deliver the hardware feature and are also preparing the necessary software tweaks for it.
Despite all the progress, bilateral charging for the iPhone is still in development, according to the report. The company is also said to have developed a unique “Wireless Power Out” firmware for it, which is currently being tested internally. The firmware is primarily responsible for managing wireless charging speeds while tracking heat dissipation and also monitoring charging efficiency, the report said.
The source also points out how Apple has already prepared a UI for reverse wireless charging function. This is reportedly similar to what is currently visible when connecting a MagSafe charger or accessory to a supported device iPhone. The bilateral loading system is also said to have its own sound and animations when activated.
However, despite the ongoing development, 9to5Mac also concludes that there is no confirmation as to when the feature will be available on iPhone. There’s also a chance that Apple could delay and take a backseat to this yet again, or it could just be scrapped altogether, and that’s largely due to concerns about thermal management and charging efficiency.
According to an older report, a patent application filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) could explain why Apple is struggling with this. According to the patent filing, Apple’s turn to reversing wireless charging mainly has to do with one Android the inability of the smartphone to hold an accessory while charging wirelessly. The patent explains how Apple is working on a circular bimodal alignment component that supposedly uses the magnets (in an iPhone) that snap and hold a MagSafe charger in place to also hold an accessory in place for optimal wireless charging.
More recently, the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) participated in the recent CES2023 announced the next generation of its wireless charging technology called Qi2. The new Qi2 standard is reportedly based on Apple’s MagSafe technology and relies on a new Magnetic Power Profile that should enable more efficient and faster wireless charging.
