Apple confirmed support for the Qi2 wireless charging standard when it announced the iPhone 15 series in September.
It has now been revealed that iOS 17.2 will support the new magnetic charging standard up to iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 models. Hooray!
Get a 256GB iPhone 14 with 100GB of data for £35 a month
This deal gets you a ‘Like New’ 256GB iPhone 14 with 100GB monthly data for just £35 per month, with no upfront fee.
- Mobile Phones Direct
- 100 GB monthly data
- £35 per month, no upfront fee
The news comes via the release notes of the iOS 17.2 release candidate (via) 9to5Mac), which also means the major release should arrive next week. The notes included a brief reference to the update, simply stating: “Qi2 charger support for all iPhone 13 models and iPhone 14 models.”
The Qi2 standard provides support for magnetic charging, and Apple worked directly with the Wireless Power Consortium on the technology. Indeed, WPC says Apple is “building the foundation for the new Qi2 standard framework on MagSafe technology.”
What will this mean for iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 users? This won’t mean much if they’re already using MagSafe chargers that can reach 15W speeds. But this means the same 15W speeds can be achieved with universal Qi2-based chargers you can find elsewhere.
For example, iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 users will be able to benefit from Android users’ Qi2 chargers, thanks to the interoperability of the technology. Likewise, the technology is also faster than standard Qi chargers; It is a fact that iPhone users can learn this.
Currently iPhones (including the iPhone 15 series) can only charge a maximum of 7.5W when using first-generation Qi chargers, so this will make a big difference as Qi2 becomes more mainstream. It also gives iPhone users more options for choosing a charger on the open market.
With the release candidate now out there, we expect Apple to release iOS 17.2 early next week. RC is the version Apple plans to release to the public, and barring any major bugs or vulnerabilities being discovered, this will be the software coming to iPhones in the coming days.
Here’s a look at some of the biggest expected iOS 17.2 features.
