Apple released iOS 17.4 earlier this month, and the big news about it was its compliance with the new EU Digital Markets Act, but it looks like that wasn't the only big thing hiding inside this update.
In fact, the new software seems to have unlocked support for the Qi2 wireless charging standard. According to testing conducted by Macworld, the iPhone 12 with iOS 17.4 now charges wirelessly at 15W when magnetically connected to a Qi2 charger that isn't Apple's MagSafe.
Previously, in such a scenario, wireless charging would be limited to 7.5W, so the jump is quite substantial. Back in December, the same support arrived for the iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 with the release of iOS 17.2, and now the iPhone 12 range can party too.
The Qi2 standard was released recently, and it comes with better wireless charging efficiency along with support for magnetic alignment. If that sounds eerily familiar, it's not a coincidence - Apple is a "steering member" of the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC), which publishes the Qi standards. So clearly, this was inspired by Apple's MagSafe.
And now, if you have an iPhone 12 and want to use a non-MagSafe certified Qi2 wireless charger, you'll be able to do that at 15W, just like with a MagSafe-certified one.
