Skip to Content

iPhone 12 Models Might Support Reverse Charging of Future Apple Accessories According to FCC Filing

iPhone 12 models could have an inactive wireless charging feature for accessories, according to an FCC filing discovered by VentureBeat's Jeremy Horwitz.

iP12 charge airpods feature 2
In the filing, Apple said that 2020 iPhones support a wireless charging function that will seemingly be enabled for at least one future Apple accessory:

In addition to being able to be charged by a desktop WPT charger (puck), 2020 iPhones also support WPT charging function at 360 kHz to charge accessories. Currently the only accessory that can be charged by iPhones is an external potential apple accessory in future.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman speculated that one of these accessories could be new AirPods with MagSafe support, which could allow the AirPods case to magnetically attach and charge on the back of iPhone 12 models. It would also be reasonable if Apple's long-awaited AirTags item trackers were able to be charged on the back of an iPhone 12.

Two-way charging was a feature rumored for the iPhone 11 lineup in 2019, but Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo later said the feature was possibly abandoned because "the charging efficiency may not meet Apple's requirements."

Tag: FCC
Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

MacBook Neo Feature Pastel 1

First MacBook Neo Benchmarks Are In: Here's How It Compares to the M1 MacBook Air

Thursday March 5, 2026 4:07 pm PST by
Benchmarks for the new MacBook Neo surfaced today, and unsurprisingly, CPU performance is almost identical to the iPhone 16 Pro. The MacBook Neo uses the same 6-core A18 Pro chip that was first introduced in the iPhone 16 Pro, but it has one fewer GPU core. The MacBook Neo earned a single-core score of 3461 and a multi-core score of 8668, along with a Metal score of 31286. Here's how the...
imac video apple feature

Apple Unveils Seven New Products

Friday March 6, 2026 11:48 am PST by
Apple this week unveiled seven products, including an iPhone 17e, an iPad Air with the M4 chip, updated MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models, a new Studio Display, a higher-end Studio Display XDR, and an all-new MacBook Neo that starts at just $599. iPhone 17e features the same overall design as the iPhone 16e, but it gains Apple's A19 chip, MagSafe for magnetic wireless charging and magnetic...
Apple MacBook Pro M4 hero

Apple Planning 'MacBook Ultra' With Touchscreen and Higher Price

Sunday March 8, 2026 8:05 am PDT by
Apple is planning to launch an all-new "MacBook Ultra" model this year, featuring an OLED display, touchscreen, and a higher price point, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Gurman revealed the information in his latest "Power On" newsletter. While Apple has been widely expected to launch new M6-series MacBook Pro models with OLED displays, touchscreen functionality, and a new, thinner design...

Top Rated Comments

dapa0s Avatar
70 months ago
Ugh, the battery is bad enough already.
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
70 months ago
Unfortunatley, this would have been a killer feature for the 11 Pro Max. Nothing can kill that phone's battery.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Populus Avatar
70 months ago
It might be for the AirTags
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thadoggfather Avatar
70 months ago

Ugh, the battery is bad enough already.
its really not imo. Set up the device as new or try another. It's been great for me.

And this would be optional, assuming it ever sees the light. Doesn't mean you have to re-charge your AirPods case to 100%, just if its dead and your AirPods are too.

Also - Ghostly is a sweet label

--

This would be a sweet feature add with an iOS update for those times you need more juice on the go
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
70 months ago
The charging debacle continues..... in my day everything was charged with a cable in about an hour. No speed fluctuations. No magnets. And it happened straight out of the box.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
70 months ago

MagSafe 2.0, requiring new iPhone and also new charger. Because of the environment. /s
You know, it's unfortunate that Apple's moves lately make people so cynical. But, some of the decisions really are puzzling. I get that they can get away with it, but still seems like horrible PR.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)