Apple iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro surprisingly receive Qi2 support

Since its launch, the Apple iPhone 12 (approx. 220 euros on Amazon) can be charged wirelessly with up to 15 watts as long as a MagSafe charger is used. With the Qi charging pads, however, the power was limited to just 7.5 watts, which meant that charging processes took much longer. This is apparently changing with the update to iOS 17.4. As a test by Macworld shows, the smartphone from 2020 now supports the full 15 watts that the Qi2 standard, which was only introduced last year, can provide.

The iPhone 15 was the first smartphone on the market to officially support the Qi2 standard. With the update to iOS 17.2 last December, support was extended to the iPhone 14 and iPhone 13. The fact that even the relatively old iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro are technically capable of being charged with Qi2 is hardly surprising, as the standard is practically identical to MagSafe after Apple made its own charging technology available free of charge to the Wireless Power Consortium, which is responsible for the Qi standard.

Just like MagSafe, Qi2 can hold smartphones magnetically and charge them with up to 15 watts. For users of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, support for Qi2 has two main advantages. Firstly, Qi2 chargers are generally cheaper than MagSafe chargers, as there is no need for certification by Apple. Secondly, the same Qi2 charger can now be used to charge both an iPhone and third-party devices at 15 watts instead of having to use two different chargers as before.