We’re a few months away from the rumoured debut of the Apple iPhone 13 lineup, and the leaks continue to surface. This time, it seems as though upgrades to the wireless charging coil and MagSafe system have been revealed.
According to serial Apple leaker Max Weinbach, the iPhone 13 will have stronger magnets on the rear of the phone as an upgrade to the MagSafe system. As such, the iPhone’s wireless charging coil will also be larger than before. This is for both improved heat management and likely higher wattage too.
Another possibility that he hinted at is that the new iPhone could come with reverse wireless charging too. This would essentially allow you to use your smartphone as an impromptu powerbank of sorts to charge up your AirPods or Apple Watch. Weinbach does say that reverse wireless charging is mostly speculation though.
This wouldn’t be the first time we’ve heard of reverse wireless charging coming to the iPhone. In 2019, an iFixit teardown of the iPhone 11 devices revealed some parts of a two-way wireless charging system, but wasn’t functional. Then in late last year, documents from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) showed that the iPhone 12 lineup actually had components capable of reverse wireless charging. As we know the iPhone 12 doesn’t officially support reverse wireless charging, so its discovery was a bit of a surprise.
Other features in the iPhone 13 that Weinbach touched on includes a Portrait mode when capturing videos. This gives you that classic bokeh background blur while filming a video. It’s already present in iOS 15 via FaceTime and apps that use your camera like Snapchat, but when the new iPhones drop it’s likely to be part of the stock camera app too.
It does go without saying though that there’s no confirmation yet that these features are indeed coming to Apple’s upcoming smartphone lineup. Weinbach also sometimes has his misses when it comes to intel; AppleTrack rates his leaks at only 69% accuracy, so it helps to be wary with his rumours.
