The latest iOS update came with a surprise for iPhone 12 smartphone owners, who can now be charged wirelessly at twice the speed via Qi2 compatible chargers.
When it launched the iPhone 12, Apple enabled Qi wireless charging, but this was done with 7.5W, half of the 15W that wireless charging with MagSafe was possible for.
Many criticized the company at the time, saying that Apple was thus favoring its own chargers, reducing the incentive to purchase third-party chargers.
However, iOS 17.4, an update released a few weeks ago, brings support for wireless charging with Qi2-compatible third-party chargers.
Qi2 is the latest version of the wireless power standard developed by the Wireless Power Consortium, which includes Apple.
Compared to the old version, the wireless charging speed practically doubles from 7.5W to 15W, which automatically halves the time required to keep the phone charged.
Qi2 support comes as a surprise not only because it wasn’t officially announced, but also because Apple doesn’t do such favors very often, especially for a smartphone released four years ago.
