Aah good catch, I misinterpreted it that way from the arstechnica liveblog. You can charge them from the phone using a USB C-to-C cable (airpods) or C-to-puck cable for the watch. Not quite as convenient, but still good to have.

This is just a very standard feature of dual-role USB devices, no?

I was also really hoping for wireless "MagSafe-out" charging for the Apple Watch, which would come in very handy when traveling – often there's limited outlets on hotel nightstands, and sometimes I just forget the watch charger.

Yeah, my solution for traveling has been a Satechi Quatro power bank, which has built in Qi and Apple Watch chargers. It's not MagSafe so lining up the phone on the charging pad is a bit fiddly, but it means I can charge my phone/watch/battery all from one USB-C plug and don't need a lightning or watch cable.

If I'm traveling with a computer too I use a 2x USB-C wall wart to fit everything in one plug. Not perfect, but beats the rat's nest of cables that it replaced.

Since the Qi charger isn't MagSafe it doesn't really work for topping up the phone from the battery on the go, so I often end up tossing a short Lightning cable in my bag anyway. Will be nice to have USB-C eventually and not worry about that (but I intend to drag this iPhone mini out for a good 5 years).

https://satechi.net/products/quatro-wireless-power-bank