Will iPhone 12 have wireless charging, or reverse charging?

a close up of electronics: The iPhone 12 is rumored to have wireless charging, and possibly reverse charging. Andrew Hoyle/CNET
© Provided by CNET The iPhone 12 is rumored to have wireless charging, and possibly reverse charging. Andrew Hoyle/CNET

At a virtual event on Tuesday, Oct. 13, Apple is expected to reveal the iPhone 12. We've heard a lot of rumors about the new phone's specs, price and potential 5G features, as well as the new phone's charging capabilities. We expect that the iPhone 12 will feature wireless charging, as every iPhone has integrated that since the iPhone 8. But on Friday, leaker Kang posted on Chinese social media site Weibo that Apple will also introduce a magnetic iPhone MagSafe charger, using the same branding as the magnetic charging cables found in its older MacBook laptops. 

a stereo sitting on a blue surface: The iPhone 12 is rumored to have wireless charging, and possibly reverse charging.© Andrew Hoyle/CNET

The iPhone 12 is rumored to have wireless charging, and possibly reverse charging. 

Read more: All the iPhone 12 rumors you need to know

The leak shows a new magnetic iPhone case with MagSafe, and two official Apple wireless chargers called MagSafe Charger and MagSafe Duo Charger. One or both of these may have a 15-watt power output. 

The leaked information also shows that the iPhone 12 could have magnetic positioning, which would move the phones to the right position on the charging pad. 

Another area of speculation is whether the new iPhone will have reverse charging -- when a phone that can be charged wirelessly can also act as the charging station and be used to charge another device wirelessly. Competitors like the Samsung Galaxy S20, the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra and the OnePlus 8 Pro have wireless and reverse wireless charging, so it's possible that Apple would take the leap on this, at least on the iPhone 12 Pro models (rumor has it that there will be four different iPhone 12 models: the iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max and Phone 12 Mini). 

To find out if any of these rumors are true, you'll have to wait until the official announcement on Tuesday -- here's how to watch the Apple Event live. For more, check out how to prepare your current phone before upgrading to the iPhone 12, and everything else we might see Apple announce at its virtual event.

Every iPhone 12 feature we expect Apple to announce

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