Every new iPhone 15 — both Pro and non-Pro models — has ditched the Lightning port in favor of USB-C. This means that you can use the same USB-C cable to charge your iPhone, iPad (except the cheapest model), MacBook and newest AirPods Pro. And that’s good thing…unless you’re especially loyal to Lightning.
But the iPhone 15’s new port also enables a pretty neat new feature: reverse charging.
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Essentially, unlike previous iPhone models, the iPhone 15 can double as a portable power bank for your gadget peripherals, such as your Apple Watch or AirPods. You can use a USB-C cable to connect your iPhone 15 to a smaller gadget and — boom — your iPhone will start charging it. This promises to be useful if your peripherals are dying and your iPhone 15 has juice to spare.
That said, Apple’s entire iPhone 15 lineup has the same-sized batteries as their iPhone 14 counterparts and are rated as having same audio and video playback times; for example, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 14 were both rated for up to 20 hours of video playback when they were respectively launched.
So, despite having this new reverse charging ability, it might not be as big of a game-changer as you might think. If you’re constantly letting your iPhone’s battery go into the red, using it to charge your other gadgets might not be advised.
