Next-Gen iPhone Rumored To Wirelessly Charge AirPods And Apple Watch, Faster Wired Charging Too

Apple Wireless Power Share and fast Charge Concept
Apple’s next generation iPhones likely won’t be unveiled until sometime in September, but details on the smartphones are already starting to slowly leak outThe latest report from Macotakara has a few insights into what is on the schedule for the new iPhones. The first is with regards to wireless charging. The iPhone family has supported standard wireless charging since the Apple iPhone 8/iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X debuted in 2017. However, the latest trend with flagship smartphones is reverse or bi-directional wireless charging, which allows them to charge another phone (or accessories). 

IDT Wireless Power Share

The Samsung Galaxy S10 family calls this Wireless PowerShare, and Apple's next generation iPhone will get a similar feature. According to the report, the iPhones will be capable of wirelessly charging AirPods and the Apple Watch; both of which don’t have heavy power requirements. The report doesn’t indicate if Apple’s solution will be powerful enough to recharge other iPhones or if it will support non-Apple devices but it would seem the wireless charging technology could likely be based on a similar circuit from IDT that Samsung employs in the Galaxy S10.

A separate note from the publication also states that Apple will finally update the iPhone’s somewhat emaciated 5W USB-A wall plug to the 18W USB-C brick found packed in with the latest iPad Pros. This will allow for faster wired charging, although the USB-C connector will only be on the wall plug side; the 2019 iPhone family is still expected to use Lightning for the device-side connection. 

Macotakara has a fairly good track record with respect to iPhone rumors, and given current trends in smartphones, this reporting seems highly plausible. As for other specs for the incoming class of iPhones, it’s been reported that the flagship models could gain triple rear cameras along with refinements to the Face ID biometric authentication system (hopefully efforts are made to make the system more compact, in turn shrinking the large notch). 

We’re also almost guaranteed to see a next-generation Apple A13 SoC under the hood and potentially the doubling of maximum internal storage to 1TB. One thing not on the docket, however, is 5G connectivity. 

Top image, credit: Macotakara