According to Bloomberg reporters Mark Gurman and Debby Wu, Apple’s new iPhones coming in the fall will include bilateral Qi wireless charging capability that will permit the user to charge their AirPods by placing them on the back of the phone.

From the report:

Apple also plans a feature that lets users charge the latest AirPods and other devices by putting them on the back of the new iPhones. That’s similar to a feature Samsung offers on its newest devices, the people said.

This sounds just like Samsung’s PowerShare feature that debuted on the Galaxy S10 range. No Apple devices currently support bilateral wireless charging but the iPad Pro models released in 2018 debuted two-way USB-C charging which lets you top up your iPhone by connecting it to an iPad Pro with a Lightning to USB-C cable.

Other highlights from the report:

  • TSMC kicked off test production of the custom Apple A13 chip in April
  • Mass production of the A13 is planned for as early as this month
  • A13 will power 2019 iPhone XR, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max successors
  • The new iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max models are code-named “D43” and “D44”
  • The iPhone XR successor is code-named “N104”
  • All three new iPhones will look similar to the current versions
  • The iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max updates will gain a third rear camera
  • The iPhone XR successor will get a second camera on the back.

Apple is also working on some interesting photography features, the report claims, and bringing new capabilities that are specifically afforded by the three rear cameras.

The third camera on the high-end models will have an ultra-wide-angle lens to produce larger and more detailed photos. It will also enable a broader range of zoom. Apple is also working on an auto-correction feature to fit people back into a photo who may have been accidentally cut out. The second camera on the new XR model will have increased zoom as well.

“A broader range of zoom” implies 3x optical zoom because the current dual-camera setup already provides 2x optical zoom. The rumored auto-correction feature sounds intriguing.

iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max successors will be about half a millimeter thicker, according to one of the people, and the back camera array will fit into a square on the top left.

The slight increase in thickness—is that due to a larger battery or the third lens?

What do you think?