According to the patent, the charging will be completely wireless , since it is mentioned by name that the user only needs to "touch the back of one iPhone to another to allow one to charge the other".
Generally speaking, Apple is not creating anything new, as many Android smartphones have had this feature for a long time. Still, it's important that this technology makes its way to iPhones.
Apple's patent also cites that a MacBook can provide charge for an iPhone or even AirPods wireless headphones. In other words, the idea of the Cupertino company is that all its devices can share load with each other.
Of course, Apple could also end up limiting the technology to a proprietary standard, something that is very common with products from the Cupertino company. Thus, Apple devices could only recharge their own branded devices.
For now, the company does not comment on the matter, but reverse charging is something that has been speculated for the iPhone line since mid-2019 . Many rumors indicated that the technology would hit the market in conjunction with the iPhone 11 , but that did not happen.