iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro might still have bilateral charging tech inside

What you need to know

Apple's new phones might have bilateral hardware inside.
Apple didn't announce bilateral charging despite rumors.
Possible that it is disabled via software.

Before the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro were announced we strongly expected them to feature bilateral charging. But the announcement came and went with no feature in sight. Now, Apple watcher Sonny Dickson says that he's heard talk that the technology is still there. You just can't use it.

Competitors like Huawei and Samsung have been offering bilateral charging – the ability to wirelessly charge another device using your phone – for months. But recently we heard that Apple couldn't make it work to its standards, so ditched it. At least for now. But according to Dickson the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro already have the hardware installed.

Reliable sources are saying iPhone 11 and 11 Pro do include the hardware for bilateral charging, but that it is software disabled. Uncertain whether this was removed prior to final production run.Reliable sources are saying iPhone 11 and 11 Pro do include the hardware for bilateral charging, but that it is software disabled. Uncertain whether this was removed prior to final production run.— Sonny Dickson (@SonnyDickson) September 13, 2019 September 13, 2019

It's possible that the hardware will have been removed by the time people start receiving their orders next Friday, September 20th. Or some early models might have it but later ones don't. We'll know for sure once the team at iFixit rips one apart. Hopefully we won't have to wait too long before that happens.

The iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro all went up for pre-order today. If you haven't already ordered you might be in for a little wait, though.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.