Reverse charging has been a frequently requested feature among Apple fans for years, but now it seems like the dream might become a reality thanks to a new patent filed by the company.
Reverse charging is a feature that would allow you to charge your iPhone wirelessly using another iPhone. If implemented across all Apple hardware, it could reshape the landscape of low-battery anxiety that many have been facing as more of our lives become dependent on chargeable devices. It’s also something that’s still missing on the most recent iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro.
As first spotted by PatentlyApple, the patent looks to make back-to-back wireless iPhone charging an option in the future. In recent years, there have been scattered signs pointing to different versions of Apple making use of reverse wireless charging — such as patents suggesting the ability to charge accessories using an iPhone or an iPad. But this is the first time we’re seeing phone-to-phone charging in any of the company’s patents.
In fact, this patent seems to be rolling a lot of the other reverse charging features that we’ve seen in previous patents into one package. If implemented, it would essentially allow any Apple product to wirelessly charge other Apple hardware. Based on the direction that Apple has been moving with features like Universal Control that connect all Apple devices together wirelessly, it feels plausible that reverse charging could be the next step to complete device connectivity.
The context surrounding Apple’s other seemingly abandoned reverse charging patents is extremely important when looking at this new one. Even if it is Apple’s intention to finally move forward with reverse charging, the patent was only just filed. In other words, there’s a chance that we won’t be seeing it in use for a while.
Reverse charging already exists in a minor way in the Apple ecosystem. The iPhone 12 introduced the feature by being able to charge Apple’s MagSafe battery pack, so there’s certainly precedent for it moving forward. What exactly that could become and when we’ll see, however, is still unknown.
The OnePlus Buds Clip are a new pair of open-ear earbuds built around a simple convenience. They join Sony’s LinkBuds Clip in the growing ear-cuff category, but either OnePlus bud can go on either ear.
Sensors recognize how the earbuds are being worn and route the audio channels accordingly. There’s no label to check before putting them on, and the feature also works when only one bud is used.
We buy fitness bands and activity trackers to keep tabs on our exercise, but it is easy to forget to start tracking or switch modes when moving between different activities. For Fitbit and Pixel Watch users, that could soon become a lot less annoying, as Google is rolling out a major upgrade to automatic activity tracking that can recognize more than 100 types of exercise, up from just 10 before.
Google first showed off the improved tracking earlier this month alongside the Fitbit Edge. It is now coming to Fitbit Air and the Pixel Watch 3, 4, and 5, and Google claims the added context behind the system makes workout detection nearly twice as accurate while cutting missed activities by more than half. Fitbit Edge will support it too.