Apple iPhone 11 reverse wireless charging: A confused state of affairs

Apple’s iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max reportedly come with hardware for reverse wireless charging but the feature is disabled.

Samsung and Huawei already offer reverse wireless charging feature (Huawei)

Until a day before the iPhone 11 launch, all the leaks and rumours had claimed that Apple's new phones, at least the premium ones, will come with reverse wireless charging. The feature didn't make it to the official iPhone 11 series. Now, Apple insider Sonny Dickson claims iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max have the hardware for bilateral charging but it is software disabled.

Apple had abandoned the reverse wireless charging feature on the iPhone 11 because the "charging efficiency may not meet Apple's requirements," revealed Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo just a couple of days before the launch.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman also backed the claims saying Apple had faced difficulties with the wireless charging technology. He also pointed out Apple had faced similar issues with another wireless charging tech, AirPower. 

Reliable sources are saying iPhone 11 and 11 Pro do include the hardware for bilateral charging, but that it is software disabled. Uncertain whether this was removed prior to final production run.

— Sonny Dickson (@SonnyDickson) September 13, 2019

Reverse wireless charging, still at nascent stages, is available on a handful of phones right now. As the name implies, the technology allows users to use their phones as a wireless charging mat. In the case of Apple, it was rumoured users could use iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max to charge AirPods and other compatible accessories. Currently, Samsung (Galaxy S10 and Note 10) and Huawei (P30 Pro) offer the technology on their select smartphones.

According to reports, Apple could enable wireless charging feature on the new iPhones with future iOS updates.

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