Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Wireless charging via electrical socket seems acceptable to me. But via a battery? That feels more wasteful with its inefficiency.
Absolutely. The modularity is very attractive though. Not having wires or needing to hold it in place makes it so much more convenient when I'm out and about. It really depends on how much efficiency this will sacrifice.
 
The battery is still a bulky device attached to iPhone. I would rather have Apple stop slowing down the phone and battery life so that i stopped having to buy additional Apple devices.
I don't think they do this anymore. It was real with iOS 7-10, especially with the infamous ThrottleGate update, but lately the updates have seemed fine on my 6S.
 
Wireless charging via electrical socket seems acceptable to me. But via a battery? That feels more wasteful with its inefficiency.
The first part (that it’s wasteful) is true, I mean, how would a iPhone 12... Pro, for example, is at 74% battery, but if the pack (or packPro, I’m a good leaker, yet I never post my leaks), is inter-charging the phone, and the phone is inter-charging the pack, then it’ll stay at the 73-75% range, so, it’s not exactly inefficient as you say.
 
“One version will feature this”
Come on..apple will not making new multiple versions
 
So the regular one would cost $149, but the reverse charging one would be free, wouldn't it? You'd have to pay $229 initially, but then after the charges get reversed, it would be free. What am I missing?
 
Just another money-grab. Why not develop and release a battery pack on the day you release the phones? It’s been nearly 6 months and no signs of this. Another phone release period is coming soon, and they’ll tell you the battery pack that was released recently is not compatible with the new phones.
 
MagSafe from battery pack to phone,
And the battery pack will also be chargeable from the MagSafe chargers. There will not be a wire only charge solution for sure. Can’t **** up “the magic” that way.
 
Just another money-grab. Why not develop and release a battery pack on the day you release the phones? It’s been nearly 6 months and no signs of this. Another phone release period is coming soon, and they’ll tell you the battery pack that was released recently is not compatible with the new phones.
MagSafe should work for more than one Gen
 
So I guess everybody agrees that reverse charging will mean that the battery pack can be charged via magsafe as well...

I have bought a cheap version of such a battery pack from Am*zon... While it feels cheap and is extremely slow, it was only 20 bucks...

And I can confirm: As it is, it charges AirPods already (well, obviously not simultaneously while charging the iPhone...)
tempImageJKXhPL.jpg

tempImageYSjMAf.jpg
 
Last edited:
Could it mean if your phone is on 100% and the MagSafe battery is on 50% it'll discharge your phone down to 90% (while charging the battery up a bit)? I know they say there's a benefit not charging above 90% until necessary, but once you're there I don't know if there's any advantage going back down to 90%.
 
yet you take Kuo seriously? he has a 78% track record he's as legit as any apple leaker out there not named Gurman or lovetodream.
Are you sure that's true? I don't have any figures, but it feels wrong - Kuo *seems* to be right a lot while Prosser doesn't to me. That said, I'm super skeptical about Kuo's latest about all the extra ports on the new MacBooks.
 
  • Like
Reactions: KeithBN
Are you sure that's true? I don't have any figures, but it feels wrong - Kuo *seems* to be right a lot while Prosser doesn't to me. That said, I'm super skeptical about Kuo's latest about all the extra ports on the new MacBooks.
Appletrack has them as similar track record. Jon is 78.2% and Kuo I believe is at 76.2%
 
Do you know much R&D went into this? The cost to mass produce it?

Just curios since you seem to.
I wish, but hopefully not much for what it is. They should spend more time engineering their actual products to include these features rather than accessories that come out years after the fact with sky high prices. Not saying the quality wouldn’t be there but I don’t know if it’s worth it in the long run.
 
I bought a Samsung induction battery pack for $25 (non-magsafe obviously) but it adds some bulk due to the induction coils. I think I'd prefer a slim battery and cable and have it quick charge as fast as possible and then unplug.

The other obvious solution would to have a slightly bigger battery in the iPhone so we wouldn't need an external battery in the first place. Even a 10-20% larger battery would make a huge difference.
 
How is this "reverse charging?" This is just a rumor of a batter pack with 2 charging coils - one MagSafe and the other open for any other Qi device. Reverse charging would be allowing the iPhone's Qi coil receive power (charging the phone) and transmit power (charge AirPods for example). No?
 
How is this "reverse charging?" This is just a rumor of a batter pack with 2 charging coils - one MagSafe and the other open for any other Qi device. Reverse charging would be allowing the iPhone's Qi coil receive power (charging the phone) and transmit power (charge AirPods for example). No?
That would require the iPhone to also be reverse charging. I would not want my phone to pass all the current to charge both the battery pack and the phone's battery at the same time. The heat load would probably be damaging to the phone battery as well. The smarter solution and one that would sell more accessories is to have the battery have the ability to be charged from a magsafe charger.
 
The first part (that it’s wasteful) is true, I mean, how would a iPhone 12... Pro, for example, is at 74% battery, but if the pack (or packPro, I’m a good leaker, yet I never post my leaks), is inter-charging the phone, and the phone is inter-charging the pack, then it’ll stay at the 73-75% range, so, it’s not exactly inefficient as you say.
Sorry I think I miscommunicated. What I meant to communicate is the idea that the inefficiency of wireless charging is much more pronounced in our minds when you have a very small finite energy source like a small battery pack that you're carrying around. To me, I just don't like that idea as opposed to plugging into it.
 
Absolutely. The modularity is very attractive though. Not having wires or needing to hold it in place makes it so much more convenient when I'm out and about. It really depends on how much efficiency this will sacrifice.
I think it will sacrifice a lot tbh. A good 20% maybe? I'll have to look at the science.
 
That would require the iPhone to also be reverse charging. I would not want my phone to pass all the current to charge both the battery pack and the phone's battery at the same time. The heat load would probably be damaging to the phone battery as well. The smarter solution and one that would sell more accessories is to have the battery have the ability to be charged from a magsafe charger.
I am not disagreeing. But calling the battery pack “reverse charging” simply because it charges a phone and can SSO charge AirPods does not make sense. That is just having to coils in the batter pack.

Reverse charging - at least as presented in other rumors there the iPhone would support it would be for the phone’s coil to receive power to charge from a Qi charger (cord or battery pack) And also to allow the phone’s coil to send power to charge the AirPods.

this battery pack does not play into it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: flopticalcube


Apple is working on MagSafe-compatible battery packs that will be compatible with the iPhone 12 models, and leaker Jon Prosser today said on the Genius Bar podcast that one version of the battery pack will feature "reverse charging."

magsafe-charging-brick-feature.jpg

According to Prosser, Apple is working on two versions of the battery packs, one that's a standard version and one that's a premium version with reverse charging. Prosser does not go into detail on reverse charging, but presumably this means that the battery pack will be able to charge an iPhone 12 while also charging AirPods from the other side at the same time.

Prosser has a mixed track record when it comes to predicting Apple's plans and is not always accurate, so the reliability of this information is unclear and should be viewed with some skepticism until confirmed. Prosser claims that his source is "not sure" if Apple will release both of these battery packs or if only one will launch, so we may not see a version with reverse charging debut. Later this week, Prosser plans to release renders of the battery packs based on information from his source.

Apple's work on iPhone 12 battery packs became apparent in mid-February after the launch of the second iOS 14.5 beta. There was a mention of a mysterious "battery pack" discovered in the code by MacRumors contributor Steve Moser, and Bloomberg later confirmed that Apple is indeed working on an iPhone 12 MagSafe battery pack.

Gurman did not mention a reverse charging possibility, but some of the prototypes were described as having a white rubber exterior. Gurman said that development on the accessory has been hindered by software issues that Apple is still working on fixing before releasing the accessory.

Bilateral wireless charging was rumored for the 2019 iPhone 11 models, but it did not end up being a feature that Apple implemented because the company wasn't able to make it work. Two way wireless charging would have allowed an iPhone to charge another iPhone or to charge a small accessory like the AirPods.

Article Link: Prosser: iPhone 12 MagSafe Battery Pack to Feature Reverse Charging
Reverse charging could be interpreted in different ways. To me, at first it sounded like the phone can charge the battery pack, which is the reverse of the battery pack charging the phone. But it also sounds like this rumor is less substantiated than others that we might hear about, so this one should be taken with a grain of salt it seems.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.