Apple unveiled their new MagSafe technology alongside their iPhone 12 series of handsets in October last year. With the new iPhone 13 series launched recently, like many other’s you may be wondering what is MagSafe for iPhone, what does it do and how does it work? With that in mind we’ll be covering all of these questions within this article.
What is MagSafe?
Before MagSafe was re-introduced on the iPhone 12 series, it was actually used on MacBooks in 2006 before they were charged via USB-C. Older Macbook’s charged via a specific cable which had magnets incorporated into it. This not only allowed for easy connection but it also improved safety especially when disconnecting (tripping over your laptop charging cable and your laptop falling to the floor comes to mind).
What is MagSafe for iPhone?
MagSafe was incorporated by Apple into their iPhone 12 series of phones (iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini), however re-worked for the different purpose of improved Qi wireless charging, in addition for various accessories such as cases and mounts to attach easily.
Within the iPhone are a series of magnets arranged around the charging coil, with an alignment magnet below them. By doing so when your iPhone is placed on a MagSafe wireless charger it will align correctly and charge wirelessly without any issues. Using this new technology, Apple have overcome the issue of older iPhone’s, where if your iPhone was slightly misplaced of the centre of a wireless charger it would either charge at much slower rate or even not charge at all. In terms of charging speeds, for example the iPhone 12, 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max will all charge up to 15W, however the iPhone 12 mini will max out at 12W.
Do Apple include the MagSafe charger in the box with the iPhone?
Unfortunately Apple do not include the MagSafe charger within the box of any of the iPhone handsets.
The Official Apple MagSafe charger is available for £38.99 / $41.99 and comes with a 1m USB-C cable integrated into it.
What other MagSafe accessories are available?
With Apple designing MagSafe to work as an ecosystem, they’ve released their own Official Apple cases and wallets. Additionally other manufacturers such as Olixar and Belkin have also entered the MagSafe market relatively early by offering cases, wallets, mains chargers and also car chargers too. With MageSafe for iPhone still within it’s early days, we expect more and more manufacturers to enter the MagSafe EcoSystem.
Do older iPhones and AirPods work with MagSafe?
All iPhones since the iPhone 8 feature Qi wireless charging and so they will continue to charge wirelessly with a MagSafe qi charger, however at a much lower charging rate. Additionally older iPhone’s will not attach and align, as they do not feature the magnetic array or alignment magnet that the iPhone 12 series of handsets has. We wait to see if the iPhone 13 series will be compatible
AirPods Pro and AirPods with the Wireless Charging Case will charge with a MagSafe charger, however they will not attach and align correctly either.
Wrapping Up & Recommendations
Thanks for reading this article on Apple MagSafe, what it is and what accessories are available for it. We hope that you found this useful and if you have any questions, please leave a comment below and we’ll get back to you.
Amit Patel