Bloomberg: iPhone Reverse Charging for Apple Watch and AirPods 'Unlikely in the Near Future'

[MacRumors]

Apple is unlikely to allow devices like Apple Watch, AirPods, and iPhone to wirelessly charge each other "in the near future," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

In a report outlining the development of MagSafe battery accessories for the iPhone 12 lineup, Bloomberg says that Apple has "internally discussed a goal of letting many of its mobile devices like Apple Watches, AirPods, and iPhones charge each other," however, the report notes that it's unlikely to be launched in "the near future." With the launch of the iPhone 11 series in 2019, Apple was planning, but then later scrapped plans to allow the iPhone to reverse charge AirPods, according to the report.

Earlier this week, evidence discovered by MacRumors in iOS 14.5 hinted at a possible MagSafe battery accessory. Code within the beta software reads, "To improve charging efficiency and maximize available battery life, the battery pack will keep your phone charged at around 90%."

Apple has been researching the ability for devices to charge each other for some time. Patents discovered in January reveal a concept of a future MacBook wirelessly charging an iPhone or Apple Watch on either side of the trackpad. The patent envisions an ecosystem in which devices are reliant on each other for charging, and presumably syncing.

Despite the feature not being officially released, the technology itself is already available within the iPhone 12. According to FCC filings, all models in the iPhone 12 lineup have the ability to reverse charge an Apple accessory on the back. The iPhone would serve as a wireless charging pad for devices with wireless charging compatibility such as the AirPods (second generation), AirPods Pro, and the Apple Watch Series 3 and later.

In theory, Apple could enable the feature with an iOS update, although there's no indication the company will. It could be holding off on enabling the feature until it releases the newly reported MagSafe battery accessories.

Article Link: Bloomberg: iPhone Reverse Charging for Apple Watch and AirPods 'Unlikely in the Near Future'

 

[44267547]

That’s one feature that I really like that Samsung offers with -inverse charging-, because I personally would really like to top off my AirPods or Apple Watch from my iPhone. I don’t think it’s a ‘make it or break it’ feature that it won’t be possibly included it in the future, but it’s that one piece of technology that would be nice to have when you need it if you didn’t have access to an external charger.

But for Apple, it might be doable for a feature, but if they don’t believe that it’s 100% on par to their standards, they won’t offer it, so I understand.

 

[MJaP]

I really miss not having this feature since switching to the Apple ecosystem. There have been a number of occassions when I've not had the appropriate charger with me that I realized I hadn't charged my Apple Watch up at it's sitting at 20%, or I didn't realise my Airpod case had run out of battery and my Airpods were on low charge, and I would have loved reverse charging just to give the particular peripheral a small top up to allow me to get through the day to when I would have access to the relevant charger again. It seems odd that it's not enabled if the iPhone is perfectly capable of doing it after all Apple ethos is all about providing the user with convenience and a seamless experience.

 

[otternonsense]

Is it because Apple is going through their most innovative period that these (pretty standard by now) features aren't seeing the light of day?

 

[slineaudi]

Meh. I still think iPhone battery life is too precious to be used to charge other devices. It's one of those things that even if you can do it but should you do it. Apple doesn't enable features just because it can be done. I think right now, it just shouldn't be done. One day, I'm sure we'll see mag safe evolve to be compatible with watch, airpods, mac, ipad, and then maybe that opens some doors.

 

[mazz0]

Meh. I still think iPhone battery life is too precious to be used to charge other devices. It's one of those things that even if you can do it but should you do it. Apple doesn't enable features just because it can be done. I think right now, it just shouldn't be done. One day, I'm sure we'll see mag safe evolve to be compatible with watch, airpods, mac, ipad, and then maybe that opens some doors.

On the mini maybe, but even then that's a choice the user could make. On the bigger iPhones the battery is plenty to share with your AirPods.

 

[The Game 161]

My guess is we will see it on next air pods pro which will allow magsafe to charge them. It’s clear this will happen but a matter of when. They certainly wouldn’t be going through the effort of this if they had no interest in releasing it

 

[IllinoisCorn]

I know not everyone is me, but this seems like a silly, frivolous, feature.

 

[carlhancock]

Just a guess but I would have to think that reverse charging would lead to faster battery degradation. I don't see how it wouldn't. We already know wireless charging in general degrades battery health quicker than non-wireless charging. And if charging your battery overtime already leads to degradation as we know... then using that same battery to charge other batteries wirelessly is only going to hasten that. It could simply be Apple doesn't think the feature, with the current technology they have available to them, is worth the battery health trade off at this time.

 

[syklee26]

I have never used this feature on my Samsung phone. Considering that most of Apple devices have great batteries, I don’t know if this would be all that useful.

 

[phenste]

Bloomberg, the most trustworthy news source around ?

(Jokes aside, I do kinda wish they would implement this. With how crazy good 12 Pro Max battery life is, it’d be cool to top off my AirPods/Watch with it. Alas)

 

[farewelwilliams]

this feature makes no sense on a daily practical perspective. you’re transferring power from a device that’s far more important to a device that likely has far more battery life than the iPhone in a slow way that results a huge power loss due to inefficient charging.

the only redeeming quality is that you can travel using one cable for your iPhone and Apple Watch. that’s all.

IMO, it would make more sense to add reverse charging to AirPods case so you can use your AirPods to top off your iPhone in extreme emergency situations where you’re out of juice and you need just a little bit of energy to make 1 call

 

[gomichaelgo]

I know not everyone is me, but this seems like a silly, frivolous, feature.

Silly for at home/work, but I think back to BC (before corona) times when I would travel or go backpacking or camping. I love carrying my watch and would LOVE to not carry an add'l charger.
Everyone usually has a Qi charger or lightning charger when you are out and about for charging your phone, and watches are becoming more common, but still not the same availability. I am hoping future watches move away from needing the Apple only charging solution and move to Qi or the reverse charging from the phone.

 

[gomichaelgo]

I have never used this feature on my Samsung phone. Considering that most of Apple devices have great batteries, I don’t know if this would be all that useful.

Do you have a Samsung Watch? I feel like that would be my use if I had this on my iPhone. Never really ran out of battery on my case for AirPods...

 

[steevn]

Id rather my AirPods case be able to charge my phone than my phone be able to charge my AirPods.

 

[dojoman]

Very lilely reverse charging wil be on the external MagSafe charger pack it can charge both devices. I don’t see the logic of sacrificing your main device to charge accessories.

 

[SegNerd]

I would much rather see Apple address the fact that they are currently using THREE different wireless charging standards (AppleWatch, MagSafe, and Qi, and that's not even counting Pencil). I don't really need bidirectional charging.

 

[otternonsense]

I know not everyone is me, but this seems like a silly, frivolous, feature.

Magsafe on the iPhone is a silly frivolous feature yet here we are.

 

[Apple_Robert]

This doesn't concern me as I really don't think a lot of people have a real ongoing need for such a feature. I can't see ever making use of it.

 

[IllinoisCorn]

Magsafe on the iPhone is a silly frivolous feature yet here we are.

That is also accurate and yes, I bought one anyway.

 

[alexandr]

don't think i would use this often, but it would be nice to have the option. especially since samsung made this years ago.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

Apple has been researching the ability for devices to charge each other for some time. Patents discovered in January reveal a concept of a future MacBook wirelessly charging an iPhone or Apple Watch on either side of the trackpad. The patent envisions an ecosystem in which devices are reliant on each other for charging, and presumably syncing.

"Presumably syncing" doesn't appear in the linked article, and to me doesn't seem a reasonable extrapolation. Charging coils are a separate system from the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/NFC/cellular antennae, and are tuned to a very different frequency range than would be appropriate for high speed data transfer.

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth syncing in various forms and for various reasons has been a part of the Apple ecosystem for quite some time. iTunes/Finder Wi-Fi syncing of iOS devices to Macs and PCs has been around for a long time, although it is not continuous, cloud-style syncing. Apple Watch syncing to its paired iPhone is foundational to that device. CarPlay, ditto. AirPods/Beats are naturally dependent on constant communication and also obtain firmware updates in the background over Bluetooth. When/if it arrives, it seems likely that Apple glasses will be paired to a companion device as well.

Meanwhile adding some sort of constant-sync between iOS devices and Macs would add additional complexity to iCloud, requiring validation of what has/hasn't been synced in order to avoid redundancy. If a new photo taken with iPhone is first synced to Mac (rather than iCloud) should it then be uploaded from Mac to iCloud, from iPhone to iCloud, or both (unnecessarily burning bandwidth), and then be cross-checked on the iCloud servers to avoid redundancy/duplication? Presumably, precedence should be given to the first device able to upload to iCloud... Currently iCloud is a traditional client-server/hub-and-spoke arrangement - new data is pushed up from one client/spoke to the server/hub, where it is then pushed down the other clients. Adding a connection between clients (the rim of the wheel), while it has some potential benefit, adds a substantial amount of complexity in order to obtain that benefit. It doesn't seem something that's likely to be implemented.

 

[otternonsense]

That is also accurate and yes, I bought one anyway.

I also got the 12 mini as an office phone and I LOVE the form factor, but I'd certainly prefer it with USB-C and a slightly larger battery. I certainly didn't get it for the Magsafe don't see myself using it ever.

 

[Yojimbo007]

Why Not... ???

 

[techfreak23]

It would be a cool feature to have in those rare instances where it would be the perfect solution. I’ve been in a few of those myself with needing to charge my AirPods or Watch on the go, but those are far and few in between.

I doubt they’ll enable it on the 12. It probably has some other function like when the 5s technically had an NFC chip, but no antenna for it. I think iPads since the original air also have NFC chips, but no antenna.