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MagSafe for iPhones

Got a new iPhone that has MagSafe and want to understand more about what exactly is MagSafe, and what accessories go with it?

This article goes into detail about what MagSafe is.

This article originated because I wanted to know if a MagSafe charger will work with someone’s existing iPhone case, and if using a “MagSafe compatible” case would help. Unfortunately, no: MagSafe cases help attach the iPhone+case to other accessories via extra magnets, rather than do anything to improve the wireless charging. Try wirelessly charging through your existing case. If it does not wirelessly charge through your existing case, there are really only three options: get an electro-magnetically thinner case, take the iPhone out of the case to wirelessly charge (which sort of defeats the convenience of having wireless charging) or try using the iPhone without a case (which is what I do).

Summary

MagSafe describes a set of different features:

Most accessories do not support all the MagSafe features. So it is important to look closely at what an accessory does.

When looking at iPhone accessories, consider:

For example, a charger that is “MagSafe compatible” might not support fast charging—because it only has a positioning magnet ring to attach the charger to the iPhone, but none of the circuits that are needed for fast charging. Another example is a magnetic stand which uses the positioning magnet ring to hold the iPhone, but doesn’t hold it very strongly. And some cases will be affect charging more than others.

History of MagSafe

Originally for laptops

The name “MagSafe” was originally used for the laptop power cable connector for some MacBook laptops. That laptop MagSafe allows the power cable to easily disconnect, so if it was accidentally pulled it would not pull the laptop off the desk.

There were originally two versions of that laptop MagSafe connector. The original MagSafe was first used in January 2006 with the first Intel-based MacBook Pro; and the MagSafe 2 was last used in the 2017 MacBook Air 13-inch, which was discontinued in July 2019.

So when the iPhone MagSafe was introduced, the name wasn’t in use for any other product available from Apple.

After the iPhone MagSafe was released, Apple introduced a new MagSafe 3 laptop charging connector, in October 2021, with the 2021 MacBook Pro models. So there is now an iPhone MagSafe and a totally unrelated laptop MagSafe.

This article is only about the iPhone MagSafe.

Wireless charging for iPhones

Apple introduced wireless charging for iPhones in September 2017, with the iPhone 8 series. It used the “Qi” (pronounced: chee) wireless charging standard, which is an open standard used that is also used by many other manufacturers.

At that time, Apple also pre-announced a product called “AirPower”, which was supposed to improve on Qi charging. The speed of Qi charging is reduced if the device is not placed in the optimal position on the the charger. AirPower was supposed to eliminate that problem, by giving full charging speeds no matter where the device was placed on the surface of the charger. AirPower was also a large charging pad, which could charge several devices simultaneously. Unfortunately, Apple could not make AirPower work, and they cancelled the product before it was ever released. The iPhone MagSafe is a different approach to solve the original problem: Instead of allowing the device to be placed anywhere on the charger, it makes sure the device is always placed in the optimal charging position.

MagSafe introduced

MagSafe for the iPhone was introduced in October 2020, with the iPhone 12 series of iPhones.

The major selling point of the iPhone MagSafe feature is faster charging speeds than can be had from normal Qi chargers.

Any iPhone 8 or newer can charge at up to 7.5W on a Qi charger. But with MagSafe, an iPhone 12 or newer can wirelessly charge at up to 15W (except the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 13 mini, where wireless charging is limited to 12W). Wired charging through the Lightning cable happens at up to 18W, so MagSafe fast charging is slightly slower.

Qi charging is a complicated topic, since there are a variety of different Qi chargers. Firstly, there are several versions of the Qi standard. The initial Qi standard only supported a maximum of 5W, so the maximum non-MagSafe iPhone charging speed of 7.5W cannot be achieved with those. Secondly, there are Qi chargers that can provide more than 7.5W that are advertised as providing faster charging, but the device has to be compatible with that particular charger. The faster charging offered by some Qi chargers is not compatible with MagSafe fast charging.

Terminology

This article will call the device that provides power a power supply. Apple has standalone “power adapters”, but other devices can also be used as a power supply (e.g. laptops and desktop computers with USB-C ports). Power supplies are often called “chargers”.

This article will only use the word charger to refer to the pad that the iPhone is placed on to wirelessly charge. Qi calls this a base station. Usually, a charger is separate to the power supply, but there could be accessories that combine both functions.

The term fast charging will only refer to the faster charging available with MagSafe and iPhones. That is, up to 15W charging for iPhones, or 12W for iPhone minis. When Qi charging is mentioned, it refers to up to the 7.5W that can be achieved with iPhones and Qi chargers.

MagSafe features

The iPhone MagSafe refers to the technology built into Apple’s iPhones.

MagSafe is made up of several features:

Positioning magnet ring

This is a circular ring of magnets that align and attach the iPhone to an accessory.

For charging, it ensures the iPhone is placed in the optimal position on the charging pad. But there are non-charging accessories that attach using the positional magnet, such as stands and wallets.

Orientation magnet

This is the small magnet underneath the positioning magnet ring.

It is used to ensure the iPhone is oriented correction in some accessories. It has nothing to do with charging.

Magnetometer

This is a detector for magnetic fields. I’ve been told it helps protect the iPhone.

NFC reader

This is used to read the NFC chip in some accessories, so the iPhone knows what is attached.

Transmitter

This is used by the iPhone to communicate with some accessories.

Choosing MagSafe accessories

Different accessories might support only some of these features.

Just because an accessory claims to be “MagSafe compatible”, does not mean it supports the feature you need. For example, a MagSafe compatible charger does not necessarily mean it can fast charge an iPhone.

To know what an accessor does, first identify which MagSafe feature the accessory supports, and under what circumstances that feature is available.

Secondly, determine how well that accessory supports that feature. Different accessories might not provide the same level of support.

Thirdly, consider how different accessories interact. The most obvious is whether a case will reduce how well wireless charging performs.

The last part of this article covers some example accessories. But first, the complicated topic of fast charging needs to be covered.

Technical details about MagSafe fast charging

MagSafe fast charging is the result of several MagSafe features working together. It requires the positioning magnet ring to align the iPhone to the charger, the NFC reader to detect the charger supports fast charging.

The charger must support fast charging and the power supply must be capable of supplying the right amount of power to the charger.

Power supplies for fast charging

MagSafe fast charging requires USB Power Delivery (PD) at 5V 2.22A or 9V 2.56A.

USB Power Delivery is a very complicated topic! There are different versions of the USB PD standard. Each version has optional features. And different power supply models have their own limits on how much of those features they support.

The simplest solution is to use the power supplies recommended by the manufacturer. Apple recommends their 20W USB-C Power Adapter, which supports USB PD 2.0 with 9V 2.22A.

Other power supplies can support MagSafe fast charging, but it is not obvious which ones work and which ones don’t.

The fast charging is often described as charging at up to 15W (or 12W for the iPhone mini), but the wattage is not sufficient for determining if a power supply can be used for fast charging. For example, the older Apple 18W USB-C Power Adapter also supports USB-PD 2.0, but it only provides 9V 2A.

Be aware that some third-party chargers are “compatible with MagSafe”, but they only charge at the standard 7.5W Qi charging speeds. They are compatible with other MagSafe features (such as having a magnet ring for attachment) but are not compatible with MagSafe fast charging.

Chargers for fast charging

Also third party chargers aren’t all the same.

For example, the Belkin Magnetic Wireless Charger Pad is a small round pad that looks like the Apple MagSafe Charger, but it does not support MagSafe fast charging. It is “MagSafe compatible”, but it only supports standard 7.5W Qi charging rates (even when used with a correct power adapter). And the packaging says it does “fast wireless charging”, but that is not the same as fast charging with MagSafe. The most obvious clue that it does not support MagSafe fast charging is it is rated at 7.5W.

Example accessories

This section uses a few examples, to show that not all the features of MagSafe are used by most accessories.

Apple’s MagSafe Charger

Apple’s MagSafe Charger is the round charging pad with a USB-C connector.

It has a magnet ring to align it with the positioning magnet ring on the iPhone. It has an NFC chip that the iPhone reads to detect the presence of the charger, and to know if it supports fast charging (i.e. if it is plugged into a suitable power supply).

It does not use the orientation magnet, since it can work in any orientation.

Apple’s iPhone Leather Sleeve with MagSafe

Apple’s iPhone Leather Sleeve with MagSafe is a case with a hole that shows a small part of the display. When in the sleeve, through the hole the iPhone can show the time, charging indicator and phone calls can be answered.

It has a NFC chip which the iPhone reads to know the sleeve is present.

It does not use the positioning magnet ring nor the orientation magnet.

Apple’s Clear Case with MagSafe

This case just has a positional magnet ring and orientation magnet, to allow the case to be attached more strongly with other accessories.

These magnets do not help with fast charging. Unlike the Apple iPhone Leather Wallet with MagSafe, these magnets are not for attaching the case to the iPhone.

Using a “MagSafe case” does not make wireless charging any better. Any case would decrease the effectiveness of wireless charging, since it increases the separation of the iPhone from the charger.

Belkin Magnetic Car Vent Mount PRO with MagSafe

This accessory is for mounting an iPhone in a car.

It has a magnet ring to attach to the iPhone’s positioning magnet ring, and another magnet to ensure the iPhone is oriented vertically.

It does not have any electronics in it. It does not perform any charging functions and does not have a NFC chip.

Magnet rings

Several companies sell a ring of magnets that can be glued to the back of older iPhones that do not have MagSafe, or to non-MagSafe accessories.

These manufacturers usually don’t try to claim the rings are MagSafe accessories, but enthusiastic reviewers claim they “add MagSafe” to a device. They only add one feature of MagSafe.

The magnet ring can allow the device to be attached to MagSafe compatible stands, but it won’t provide MagSafe fast charging.

Firmware

The MagSafe charger has updatable firmware.

The firmware version can be viewed on an iPhone placed on the MagSafe charger, by going to Settings > General > About > Apple MagSafe Charger.

On 9 December 2021, Apple released firmware version 247.0.0.0 (10M229), to replace firmware version 174.0.0.0 (9M5069). There is currently only one model charger: A2140.

Ways to update the firmware include: plugging it into an Internet connected Mac; plugging it into an Internet connected iPad that has a USB-C connector; or leaving a Wi-Fi connected iPhone on it.

See also

Other cases and useful accessories

General

Technical