HOW IT WORKS
Reverse wireless charging
How your iPhone could one day charge your AirPods without wires
YOU WILL LEARN
How wireless charging can be reversed to top up the charge in accessories such as Apple’s MagSafe Battery Pack
What you lose in charging speed you gain in convenience and reduced cable clutter
Key fact
The speed of wireless charging will depend on the power that your charging pad delivers and the receiver in your phone can handle. For example, the iPhone 11 charges at 7.5W on Apple-approved Qi charging pads and 5W on others; the iPhone 12 charges at 15W on MagSafe (12W for the iPhone 12 mini) and 7.5W on standard Qi pads.
With the launch of the new iPhone 13 at Apple’s September event, we were hoping to see one much-wanted feature: reverse wireless charging. Unfortunately, while the technology has apparently been found in the iPhone 12 (according to the US Federal Communications Commission) and can be used to reverse charge Apple’s MagSafe Battery Pack, it hasn’t been made more widely available. So what is it and how does it work?