Apple iPhone 12 has reverse wireless charging feature but it’s disabled for now

It is also rumoured that Apple’s MagSafe reverse wireless charging tech might be used to charge the AirPods.

Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max (Apple)

While Apple iPhone 12 and 12 Pro gathered all the headlines for their new design and camera features, a good amount of coverage was given to the new MagSafe charging tech as well. We have already talked about what the tech is and also about MagSafe Duo accessory. However, there's still a feature that's ‘hidden' and is not yet activated – reverse wireless charging. This feature was not mentioned at any point during the launch or on any of the Apple websites. But US FCC documentation strongly suggests that iPhone 12 models already have the hardware inside them. 

It is being speculated that since the hardware support exists, Apple might just bring this feature by enabling it at some point via a software update. However, speculations go both ways and the firm might not enable this feature ever.

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If this FCC filing is any indication, the iPhone 12 may have a hidden reverse charging feature. Perhaps MagSafe on the new AirPods? https://t.co/QhFQtOgoRB https://t.co/OAKzzb5U3B pic.twitter.com/pqAVcjLCyN

— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) October 28, 2020

The details about iPhone 12's reverse wireless charging was tweeted by Venturebeat's Jeremy Horowitz. As per him, the US FCC listing states “In addition to being able to be charged by a desktop WPT charger (puck), 2020 iPhone models also support WPT charging function at 360 kHz to charge accessories [including] an external potential apple accessory in future.”

It is also rumoured that Apple's MagSafe reverse wireless charging tech might be used to charge the AirPods. What's worth adding is that Apple was rumoured to include reverse wireless charging in iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro Max. However, that never happened. But this time, Apple may have this particular trick up its sleeve for the near future.

Talking about chargers, it was recently revealed that Apple's much-advertised 15W charging speed by MagSafe chargers is only achievable if used with a 20W adapter. Any other third party adapter or Apple's own 18W adapter or low may not deliver 15W wireless charging.