Reverse charging rumor resurfaces for the iPhone 17 Pro

Rumors of Apple implementing a reverse charging system in the iPhone have resurfaced yet again, this time with claims it's been tested on the iPhone 17 Pro.

Apple's iPhone range has had wireless charging for quite some time, but while it has been used to draw power to recharge the internal battery, it's not been used to transmit power the other way. If a rumor is true, this may happen for the iPhone 17 Pro.

According to serial Weibo leaker Setsuna Digital, also known as Instant Digital, Apple "has tested the reverse charging function" on the iPhone 17 Pro. While wireless charging isn't said explicitly, the post references the function used in Samsung devices, as well as an image highlighting the wireless charging area on a smartphone.

In terms of performance, the system is apparently capable of transmitting power at up to 7.5W. This is the same wattage that Qi wireless charging operates at in the iPhone 16 Pro, but far from the 25W of MagSafe in the same model.

Much like the Samsung equivalent, it is proposed that reverse wireless charging is useful for recharging wireless earphones, such as an AirPods case with built-in wireless charging, if there are no other power options available.

Watch the Latest from AppleInsider TV

However, while saying Apple has tested the function, the rumor stops short of saying it will be implemented. "I don't know if it will be open for use this time," the post admits.

Setsuna Digital has repeatedly covered Apple products in rumors in the past. Despite having a considerable Weibo following, the account hasn't offered many concrete details about products in the past.

Rumors repeating themselves

The idea of reverse wireless charging has been around for quite a few years and has appeared for many different generations of iPhone.

This includes an apparent FCC filing hint of the feature in the iPhone 12 series. A leaker's "prediction" of it coming in the iPhone 13 was apparently prompted by rumors of larger charging coils.

A teardown of the iPhone 11 Pro Max also alluded to a deactivated reverse charging feature, known as bilateral wireless charging. Other rumors said it would come in the iPhone 14 Pro, which didn't happen.

There has even been a patent filing from Apple for a phone case that enables a form of reverse-wireless charging.

While the rumors repeatedly insist it is on the way, it is ultimately up to Apple as to when it will implement it in its products.

4 Comments

avon b7 21 Years · 8180 comments

About 1 month ago

It's a feature that should have been implemented years ago but Apple and bleeding edge battery tech don't seem to match very well.

At least wired reverse charging seems to be activated.

Plus Apple is notorious for drip-feeding functionality and users have no option but to wait for these features to go live. That's just the way it is.

1 Like · 1 Dislike

maltz 14 Years · 530 comments

About 1 month ago

It's probably worth mentioning that even iPhone 16 (maybe others?) can reverse charge Airpods and Apple Watch right now, but it requires a charging cable. So saying Apple is testing "reverse charging" without specifically mentioning wireless doesn't even seem like a rumor - this is something iPhones already do.

Wireless reverse charging would be great, though. Especially if it could reverse charge other phones and Airpods and Watches, but I wonder if the latter is possible, since they seem to require a different charge pad than a phone.

2 Likes · 0 Dislikes

HiramAbif 5 Years · 11 comments

About 1 month ago

maltz said:

It's probably worth mentioning that even iPhone 16 (maybe others?) can reverse charge Airpods and Apple Watch right now, but it requires a charging cable. So saying Apple is testing "reverse charging" without specifically mentioning wireless doesn't even seem like a rumor - this is something iPhones already do.

Wireless reverse charging would be great, though. Especially if it could reverse charge other phones and Airpods and Watches, but I wonder if the latter is possible, since they seem to require a different charge pad than a phone.

Wireless reverse charging does also actually exist now in current models - the iPhone can push power back to Apple's (now discontinued) external MagSafe battery pack when the phone is connected to wired power.

1 Like · 0 Dislikes

maltz 14 Years · 530 comments

About 3 weeks ago

HiramAbif said:

maltz said:

It's probably worth mentioning that even iPhone 16 (maybe others?) can reverse charge Airpods and Apple Watch right now, but it requires a charging cable. So saying Apple is testing "reverse charging" without specifically mentioning wireless doesn't even seem like a rumor - this is something iPhones already do.

Wireless reverse charging would be great, though. Especially if it could reverse charge other phones and Airpods and Watches, but I wonder if the latter is possible, since they seem to require a different charge pad than a phone.

Wireless reverse charging does also actually exist now in current models - the iPhone can push power back to Apple's (now discontinued) external MagSafe battery pack when the phone is connected to wired power.

Well now that's interesting. Can it charge anything else while plugged in? It would be super handy for a plugged-in iPhone to act as a charging base for a second phone, even if both phones charge slower.

Though either way, knowing that the functionality is there, but arbitrarily limited, is kinda frustrating. But Apple's ecosystem is kinda rife with such weirdness. Usually, it's a brand lock-in kind of thing, but I'm not sure why this would be that way.