Apple has reportedly examined a wi-fi reverse charging function for its upcoming iPhone 17 Professional fashions that will make the iPhone able to delivering energy to different Apple units, in line with the Weibo-based leaker Instantaneous Digital.
The Chinese language leaker claims that Apple is testing a 7.5W wi-fi charging function for iPhone 17 Professional fashions, and it could possibly be used to cost different Apple equipment like AirPods, Apple Watch, or doubtlessly an upcoming MagSafe Battery Pack.
Lengthy-running rumors of iPhone reverse wi-fi charging capabilities lastly got here to fruition in 2021 – albeit in a restricted method – when Apple launched the MagSafe Battery Pack for iPhone 12 and newer fashions. When connected to an iPhone that was charging through Lightning, the iPhone may ship energy to the MagSafe Battery Pack, which was the primary occasion of an iPhone having the ability to route energy to an adjunct machine.
Apple discontinued the MagSafe Battery Pack in September 2023, and with it the iPhone’s reverse wi-fi charging functionality, with the launch of iPhone 15 fashions, which dropped the Lightning cable in favor of USB-C. iPhone 15 and later fashions can reverse cost Apple Watch, AirPods, and different smaller units that help Energy Supply at as much as 4.5 watts through the USB-C port, however a wi-fi reverse charging function has not been carried out for the reason that discontinuation of the MagSafe Battery Pack.
In 2022, provide chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted {that a} relaunched MagSafe Battery Pack would finally transition to USB-C, however that has but to occur. Likewise, In September 2023, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman additionally mentioned he anticipated USB-C variations of the MagSafe Battery Pack to return “finally.” However he certified that by saying “Do not maintain your breath.”
Instantaneous Digital as we speak admitted that whereas Apple is testing the reverse wi-fi charging function for the iPhone 17 Professional fashions, the leaker doesn’t know if the function will truly be enabled on the units once they formally launch. Apple is predicted to launch its iPhone 17 lineup round mid-September.
