Washington: Apple has announced a new accessory for iPhone 12 named MagSafe Battery Pack that magnetically attaches to the back of the gadget and charges it wirelessly. It has indirectly unlocked the previously unannounced iPhone 12 feature: reverse wireless charging.
According to Mashable India, when the MagSafe Battery Pack is attached to an iPhone, and the iPhone is charging via a lightning cable, the iPhone is actually delivering power to the battery pack.
The same was reported by a blogging site MacRumors, but Apple actually confirmed it in a support document.
“If both your iPhone and MagSafe Battery Pack need to be charged, you can charge them at the same time. Attach your MagSafe Battery Pack to your iPhone and then plug the MagSafe Battery Pack into a power adapter. (…) You can also charge both if you attach your MagSafe Battery Pack to your iPhone, then plug your iPhone into a power source.
You might want to charge this way if you need to connect your iPhone to another device while charging, like if you are using wired CarPlay or transferring photos to a Mac,” the document read.
It was speculated by the tech experts that this feature might allow the iPhone 12 to be able to charge other devices as well, such as AirPods. But, it can only work when the iPhone 12 is plugged in.
However, there has been no official word about this feature working with any other accessory besides the new MagSafe Battery Pack, yet. But, as per Mashable India, this may change in the future.