Apple is still working on a charging feature that should have been in the iPhone 14

The launch of the iPhone 14 last fall was missing one key ingredient: reverse wireless charging. But sources cited by 9to5Mac report that Apple originally planned on including the feature, and would have done so if the company’s engineering teams hadn’t missed the deadline to complete development work.

Reverse charging, also known as bilateral charging, is a feature whereby a device can both receive and transmit charge wirelessly. It’s been available on high-end Android phones such as the Galaxy S23 for years.

Technically, as 9to5Mac notes, the iPhone has included a rudimentary version of this function since the launch of the iPhone 12: plug your device into a power outlet, connect a MagSafe battery pack to the back, and it will start to charge up. But “true” reverse charging would give the iPhone the ability to charge up a far larger range of accessories, and enable it to do so purely from battery power rather than transmitting mains power ‘through’ its chassis. The most obvious application would be charging an AirPods case when it is placed on the back of the iPhone, but any Qi-compatible accessory would presumably be able to work with the system.

Reverse charging is a perennial iPhone rumor. Some thought it would arrive (in the true sense) with the iPhone 12—although those hardware developments turned out to be for the MagSafe battery pack only—and the same idea was predicted for the iPhone 13. Unsurprisingly, pundits repeated their claim for the iPhone 14, but it now seems they were at least partly right.

9to5Mac, citing anonymous “sources familiar with the matter,” says the feature was slated for inclusion in last year’s new Pro iPhones, offering yet another incentive for users to pick the more expensive models. The company didn’t hit its own deadline for the completion of the feature, which meant it didn’t make the cut, but hopes to include it in a future model.

The sources offer further detail of Apple’s plans in this area, which give hints as to why the company was unable to complete the project in time. It is, for example, a project with both hardware and software components, as Apple also wants to offer onscreen animations and sound effects to indicate that reverse charging is underway, and presumably to guide the user through the process. On the hardware side, the sources say Apple is “developing a unique ‘wireless power out’ firmware as the basis for the feature,” and are wrestling with questions of heat management, efficiency, and charging speed.

This new report will inevitably lead to rumors that reverse charging will finally arrive with the launch of the iPhone 15 later this year, but 9to5Mac cautions against such optimism. The site’s sources warn that the feature could feasibly be delayed again, or even scrapped entirely.