For years, Apple has pursued the ability to turn an iPhone into a wireless charger for its surrounding devices — a quiet ambition that has twice approached the threshold of reality, only to retreat. Engineers are still at work on the technology, and it may yet find its way into a future iPhone, though the history of this particular idea is one of careful hope and repeated delay. In the broader arc of consumer technology, it is a reminder that the distance between a company's vision and its products is often longer, and more uncertain, than announcements suggest.
Apple still pursuing reverse wireless charging after iPhone 14 Pro miss
Apple's engineers are still pushing the technology forward
Mark
So Apple wanted this feature on the iPhone 14 Pro and just... couldn't pull it off?
Mimi
That's what the reporting suggests. They had the ambition, but the engineering or the timeline didn't cooperate. It's not unusual for Apple to miss internal deadlines on new hardware.
Luke
Right, but we should be clear: this is coming from unnamed sources. We don't have Apple on record saying they ever planned it for the 14 Pro. We're taking someone's word for it.
Mark
Fair point. But if they're still working on it, doesn't that suggest they think it's worth doing?
Mimi
Probably. But the same sources also said it could be delayed again or scrapped. So there's no certainty here. Apple has shelved this exact idea before—back in 2019.
Luke
Which is the real story, I think. This isn't a feature that's coming. It's a feature Apple keeps trying and failing to ship. That's the pattern.
Mark
When might we actually see it?
Mimi
The iPhone 15 Pro is the next logical candidate, since that's coming later this year. But "could" is the operative word.
Luke
And we don't know why it keeps getting delayed. Is it a technical problem? A cost problem? A priority problem? The reporting doesn't tell us.
Mark
So we're basically watching Apple chase something Samsung already does.
Mimi
Exactly. Samsung's had reverse wireless charging for years. Apple's still working on it.
Luke
Which raises the question: why is Apple's version taking so much longer? That's the gap in the story.
Il Polso
- Apple failed to ship reverse wireless charging with the iPhone 14 Pro, missing a deadline the company had quietly set for its 2022 flagship.
- This is not the first stumble — Apple reportedly planned the feature as far back as 2019, only to shelve it before launch, making the current effort at least the third attempt.
- Engineers are now developing proprietary firmware to manage charging speeds and prevent overheating, suggesting the technical challenges are real and not yet fully solved.
- Samsung has offered the same capability for years, and Apple's cable-free ecosystem — AirPods, Apple Watch — makes the absence of the feature increasingly conspicuous.
- Sources close to the development warn the feature could be delayed again or scrapped entirely, leaving the iPhone 15 Pro as a possibility rather than a promise.
For years, Apple has pursued the ability to turn an iPhone into a wireless charger for its surrounding devices — a quiet ambition that has twice approached the threshold of reality, only to retreat. Engineers are still at work on the technology, and it may yet find its way into a future iPhone, though the history of this particular idea is one of careful hope and repeated delay. In the broader arc of consumer technology, it is a reminder that the distance between a company's vision and its products is often longer, and more uncertain, than announcements suggest.
Apple set out to give the iPhone 14 Pro the ability to wirelessly charge other devices, but the feature didn't make it in time. The work, however, hasn't stopped. People familiar with Apple's plans say engineers are still developing the technology, keeping alive the possibility that a future iPhone — perhaps the 15 Pro — could finally carry it.
This is not a new pursuit. Apple reportedly planned reverse wireless charging as early as 2019, only to pull it before launch. Now, years later, the company is taking another run at it, this time building proprietary firmware to manage charging speeds and guard against overheating — technical hurdles that help explain why the feature has proven so difficult to ship. The payoff would be meaningful: an iPhone capable of topping up AirPods, AirPods Pro, or an Apple Watch without a cable, in an ecosystem already built around wireless convenience.
Samsung has offered this capability for years, and the gap has grown harder to ignore. Still, the same sources confirming Apple's continued work also caution that the feature could slip again — or disappear entirely. Apple has a history of quietly retiring hardware ideas that don't come together, and this one has already missed at least one deadline. Until Apple says otherwise, reverse wireless charging remains a project in progress, not a product on the horizon.
Apple set out to equip the iPhone 14 Pro with reverse wireless charging—the ability to wirelessly power up other devices—but the company ran out of time. The feature didn't make the cut for the 2022 flagship. Yet the work hasn't stopped. According to reports from people familiar with Apple's plans, engineers inside the company are still pushing the technology forward, which means it could show up on the iPhone 15 Pro later this year, or on some future model down the line.
This isn't a new ambition for Apple. The company has been circling reverse wireless charging for years. Back in 2021, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that Apple had originally planned to introduce it in 2019, only to shelve the idea before launch. Now, nearly a decade later, the company is making another run at it—and this time, sources say, Apple is developing proprietary firmware to handle the feature. That software would manage wireless charging speeds and prevent devices from overheating during the power transfer, critical details for a feature that could charge AirPods, AirPods Pro, or potentially even an Apple Watch directly from an iPhone.
The appeal is obvious. Samsung phones have offered reverse wireless charging for years, letting users top up their earbuds or smartwatches without hunting for a cable. Apple's ecosystem is dense with wireless devices that could benefit from the same convenience. An iPhone that doubles as a charging pad would be a natural fit for a company that has spent years removing ports and cables from its products.
But there's a catch. The same sources who confirmed Apple's continued work on the feature also warned that it could be delayed again—or abandoned entirely. This is not a guarantee. Apple has a history of shelving ambitious hardware ideas when they don't work out, and reverse wireless charging has already missed one deadline. The company's track record with this particular technology is one of false starts and postponements.
What makes the current effort different is unclear. Apple hasn't said anything publicly about the feature or its timeline. The company tends to keep hardware development quiet until it's ready to announce, which means anyone waiting for reverse wireless charging on their next iPhone should probably temper their expectations. The iPhone 15 is a possibility. So is the iPhone 16, or the one after that. Or it might never arrive at all. For now, Apple's engineers are working on it—and that's all anyone outside the company actually knows.
Citazioni salienti
Apple engineers are pressing ahead with the development of bilateral wireless charging alongside software optimizations for it— 9to5Mac sources
Reverse wireless charging could ultimately be delayed again or scrapped altogether— Sources familiar with Apple's plans
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