Apple’s latest iPhone could be compatible with a new ‘reverse charger’ that would let users charge their AirPods just by placing them on the phone while it charges.
EverythingApplePro‘s Max Weinbach reported Sunday that the phone will have a stronger array of magnets in the back to support the bulked-up MagSafe charger, which is wireless.
The rumored charger is also said to be better at keeping the phone from overheating, while allowing for a quicker recharge.
EverythingApplePro’s website also postulates the jumbo coil could be used for reverse wireless charging—which essentially uses the energy from the phone to wireless charge another device.
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That would be a first for the iPhone, but it likely wouldn’t be powerful enough to juice up another phone or iPad—more likely a pair of AirPods or an Air Tag.
According to FCC filings, current iPhones already have the ability to reverse wireless charge.
Apple could eventually release a wireless charger that could simultaneously power several devices at once, and from greater distances, but that ‘is likely several years away,’ Bloomberg reported.
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The latest word on the upcoming iPhone 13 is that it will have a larger wireless charger coil, possibly to accommodate reverse wireless charging. The phone will also allegedly have a stronger array of magnets in the back to support MagSafe technology
In 2018, Apple announced plans for AirPower, a wireless charging mat that could charge up to three devices simultaneously, but it canceled those plans a year later.
One rumor being squashed is that the iPhone 13 would have an optional terabyte of storage space: TrendForce says the new release will maintain the same memory capacities as the iPhone 12.
TrendForce also reports the 13 will maintain the same pricing as the 12, too—landing at $699 for a 64GB Pro Mini up to $1,999 for a tricked out Pro Max.
Last week, images of devices purported to be the iPhone 13 were leaked on Chinese social media site Weibo.
Based on the pictures, it looks like the phone will have a larger camera bump with lenses laid out diagonally rather than vertically, allowing users to take better wide-angle and zoomed-in photos.
Other claims about the upcoming release include a slightly larger camera ‘bump’ to accommodate the diagonal layout, a 2.5x telephoto zoom, and an upgrade to the super wide-angle lens.
MacRumors reports the iPhone 13’s camera will have a f1.8 aperture, lower than the current f2.4 on the iPhone 12.
Photos purported to be of dummy units of the upcoming iPhone 13 surfaced on Weibo, indicating camera will have a larger ‘bump’ and diagonal lens
A lower aperture allows more light to enter, useful for shooting under lower light, like at night, and for creating nice depth of field.
The improvement could come to all four rumored models, the site said, the iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Mini, iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max.
According to Tom’s Guide, the lenses will also include automatic focus and sensor-shift optical image stabilization (OIS), which help counter shakiness.
Sensor-shift OIS debuted with the iPhone 12 Pro Max’s telephoto lens, but with iPhone 13 Pro or Pro Max ‘the sensor shift OIS will be on both the wide and ultra-wide lenses,’ Tom’s Guide reported. ‘It’s uncertain if the same technology will touch the front-facing camera.’
Experts predict the iPhone 13, perhaps touted instead as the ’12 S’ will be unveiled September 14. It will maintain the same storage capacity and pricing as the iPhone 12, according to reports
As for that thicker bump, it ‘would allow the lenses to sit flush with the surface, rather than protruding out as they currently do,’ CNET reports, and ‘to allow for the wider aperture and sensor-shift stabilization that may be added.’
Weinbach’s newest comments supported earlier theories that the iPhone 13 will support Portrait mode in video.
While many are referring to the upcoming model as the iPhone 13, EverythingApplePro added to the chorus of speculation it will simply be designated the “12 S”—both because the upgrades are minor and to avoid the unlucky implications associated with the number 13 in some cultures.
Whatever the phone is called, official word will come from Cupertino in the third week of September, according to Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives —September 14, to be exact, if Apple holds to its traditional Tuesday reveal days.
