It’s a relatable situation to find yourself in: You’re out and about when you suddenly look down at your phone—only to realize it’s close to being dead. Do you let it ruin your night out? TikToker Amber (@amberdollyy) says she discovered a little-known iPhone feature while dining at a restaurant with her friend.
Amber says her phone fell to 3% battery while she was out, and that predicament led to her “crazy” discovery.
She says while she didn’t have a charger block on hand, she did have a USB-C connector. Her friend knew that that, along with another iPhone, was all she needed to charge her phone. She says her friend handed the TikToker her phone and told her, “‘You can use my phone to charge it.’”
“Y’all, her phone is really charging my phone. I did not know that. Did y’all know that?” an astounded Amber says. “Anybody knew that? and they automatically charge whatever phone has the lowest battery. That’s crazy.”
Answering Amber’s question, viewers shared that this wasn’t common knowledge.
“Bro TikTok has been nothing but great to me since day one very informative,” one said.
Many had some questions of their own.
“So are you taking her battery life ?” one asked.
“Why didn’t you show us how it works,” another questioned.
@amberdollyy Crazyyyy work 😂🤦🏽♀️ #fyp #iphone #ccharger #technology #viral #fyp #todayyearsold ♬ original sound – Amberdollyy
Demonstration
YouTuber iDeviceHelp, who has 988,000 subscribers, demonstrates using one iPhone to charge another in this video:
He takes an iPhone 16 Pro Max with a 50% battery and plugs it into an iPhone 15 Pro Max with a 27% battery. After plugging them into each other with a USB-C connector, the iPhone 16 immediately starts charging the iPhone 15 since it has more battery.
What else can you use an iPhone to charge?
According to an Apple support document in iDeviceHelp’s video, the iPhone needs to be an iPhone 15 or 16 in order for this to work with a USB-C connector. But to charge an older model, one can use a lightning connector, according to iDeviceHelp. One caveat to using a lightning connector, he notes, is that the older device can’t charge the newer model. Also, per SimplyMac, the main device’s battery will drain in order to charge the secondary device. So, yes, Amber was taking her friend’s battery life.
One can also use an iPhone to charge AirPods or an Apple Watch. The YouTuber also demonstrates this in his video. “Very useful for when you’re out and about and you need a little extra juice,” he says of the iPhone-to-AirPod charge.
The Apple product expert says that wireless charging is a rumored iPhone 17 feature. The way that would work, he says, is by placing iPhones back-to-back. This has been a Samsung feature since 2019; it’s called “Wireless PowerShare.”
The iPhone 17 is expected to be released in early September.
The Daily Dot reached out to Amber via Instagram direct message and to Apple via email.
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