iPhone 12, secret reverse charging feature discovered: how it works

Source: HW Upgrade added 29th Oct 2020

  • iphone-12,-secret-reverse-charging-feature-discovered:-how-it-works

The new iPhones 12 integrate the possibility of charging other devices, simply by placing them on the back. However, no current accessories seem to work

by Nino Grasso published , at 17: 51 in the Apple channel

Apple iPhone

The new iPhone series just arrived on the market (with two of the four devices) has the necessary hardware to wirelessly charge an external accessory. To reveal it are some FCC documents made public in recent days. Identified by Jeremy Horwitz of VentureBeat, the smartphone implements “transmitter and receiver of inductive charge”. The feature has not been made official by Apple, however it could be enabled in the future to load new AirPods or the alleged AirTag.

One of the documents reads: “In addition to being able to be charged by a Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) charger, iPhone models of the 2020 also support WPT charging function at 360 kHz for charging external accessories “. All new Apple smartphones implement the feature: 12 mini (BCG-E 3539 A), iPhone 12 (BCG-E 3542 A), iPhone 12 Pro (BCG-E 3545 A) and iPhone 12 Pro Max (BCG-E 3548 A). The accessories are recharged at 5W , at least according to what is reported.

On the charging front the new iPhones 12 support the MagSafe standard, which uses different magnets to attach compatible accessories. Apple hasn’t announced any form of reverse wireless charging and it doesn’t appear that iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, now available on the square, are able to charge any device currently on the market. MagSafe may allow Apple to ditch the physical connector on iPhones in the future, so it is likely that Apple’s accessories will also have no connectors and will need additional charging modes.

C ‘it must be said that the current implementation is rather embryonic. Charging can only take place to external accessories for iPhone and only and exclusively when the smartphone is connected to the power socket . The technology could therefore only serve to reduce the inconvenience when multiple devices have to be charged at the same time (for example at night). It is unclear why Apple has not revealed the functionality along with the phones, although it is very likely that such secrecy is necessary to protect the secret on the first working accessory, not yet shown to the public. AirPods and AirTags are the major eligible candidates today.