MagSafe Battery Issues (Draining, Too Hot, Overnight Charge)
MagSafe is an advanced magnetic technology from Apple that is built into the internal design of various iPhone models. The device was originally created as a safety feature for MacBook chargers but was later incorporated into iPhone models to develop a more reliable ecosystem for charging. MagSafe ensures faster wireless charging and easy attachment.
So, is MagSafe bad for the battery? MagSafe is not bad for the battery. Contrary to what some people think, MagSafe doesn’t degrade your battery’s health because it doesn’t overcharge or overheat. If you have any doubts about the functionality of MagSafe, you can still use normal fast charging to charge your device.
MagSafe has safety features designed to protect your battery against overheating — this means the chances of your battery getting affected are minimal. Besides, it ensures efficient charging through its fast-charging feature and fusion cable.
MagSafe is an efficient magnetic technology designed by Apple. Even though it was created as a safety feature for MacBook charging, it has been incorporated into iPhone charging systems. Therefore, some users wonder whether MagSafe is bad for the battery.
iPhone batteries
MagSafe isn’t bad for iPhone batteries; if anything, it helps maintain the battery life. MagSafe is designed to make iPhone charging fast and efficient, and it has features designed to protect the health of your battery.
Therefore, there is little chance of MagSafe damaging the MacBook or iPhone battery. Knowing how MagSafe works will go a long way in helping you understand why it is good for iPhone batteries.
MagSafe is a series of magnets placed around an iPhone’s internal charging coil. The magnets work in iPhone 12 and above; this means other iPhone models might not work with MagSafe technology.
When the magnets are placed on the iPhone, it detects other MagSafe compatible accessories and automatically snaps them securely and seamlessly into position. It is vital to know that MagSafe attaches to only compatible MagSafe accessories.
This is the case because the technology only works on specific iPhone models. Because it is secure, other magnets interfering will not interfere with the connection. Besides, you don’t have to worry about the magnet getting stuck on your iPhone.
MagSafe advantages
Using a MagSafe charger comes with a wide range of advantages. For instance, it has numerous accessories designed to enhance fast charging. It also gives you the full iPhone experience without interfering with the charging system.
While the iPhone will still work with other intelligent wireless chargers, MagSafe chargers are a notch higher in terms of efficiency. They deliver faster wireless charging that can go up to 15W. This is the case when the charger is locked in with an iPhone 12 or 13.
While MagSafe delivers up to 15W, other chargers deliver only 7.5W — this is one of the reasons why MagSafe is a better charger. With this charger, you will spend less time charging your iPhone. Besides, the perfectly aligned snap-on attachment ensures that the charger remains connected regardless of position.
You don’t have to worry about the charge being ineffective when the device vibrates or gets an incoming call. This goes a long way in ensuring efficiency and stability. Besides, because it has a strong magnetic connection, you don’t have to worry about the MagSafe falling out of position.
Apart from MagSafe’s enhanced and simplified charging, its snap-on attachment creates various exciting accessories such as fitness mounts, power banks, and face motion trackers to enhance your experience on iPhone.
This also makes life more precise and simpler. With this technology, you don’t have to worry about being precise in various phone operations because MagSafe technology automates them. There are many MagSafe accessories available on the market. While MagSafe is an Apple product, many companies have created accessories that can work with the product.
Apple MagSafe Battery Pack Review: Absolutely Convenient
Outside of the iPhone 12 Pro Max, there is one problem that continues to plague owners of the iPhone 12 mini, 12, and 12 Pro. Battery life just isn’t exactly what we hoped for nor what we expect to see from an Apple device released in 2020. The poor battery life is even more curious considering that Apple reportedly ditched its plans to include a ProMotion 120Hz display.
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But thanks to the power of MagSafe, keeping my iPhone charged up has not been much of an issue. However, eight months after the iPhone 12’s release and the integration of MagSafe wireless charging, Apple finally did what it should have last year — it released the MagSafe Battery Pack.
Over the course of the past year, we haven’t seen far too many options hit the market, but this has more to do with Apple’s strenuous MFi program. Nevertheless, we now have several battery packs that attach magnetically to the back of your iPhone. But of course, using one sold by Apple likely makes people feel more comfortable.
Apple MagSafe Battery Pack Review: Design
Out of the box, the MagSafe Battery Pack fits the Apple aesthetic just as you would expect. It’s only available in one color, while making use of the same silicone material as is found on Apple’s Silicone case lineup. Turning it over reveals the MagSafe plate where so you can properly place the Battery Pack onto your iPhone.
At the bottom of the Battery Pack, there’s a Lightning port, along with a single LED indicator. Apple really didn’t try and re-invent the wheel here, but I definitely think it missed out on a golden opportunity. Now, I’m not saying that a new Battery Pack should be released to match the Silicone Cases that arrive every time the seasons change. However, sticking with white, and only white, is rather frustrating.
To be fair, it looks great slapped onto the back of my iPhone 12 Pro Max, pairing quite nicely with the Pacific Blue color way that I opted for. But I still would have liked to see at least two or three more color options made available.
Apple MagSafe Battery Pack Review: Charging and Features
Underneath all of the magnets and silicone, the Apple MagSafe Battery Pack is equipped with a measly 1,460mAh lithium-ion cell. This is really underwhelming when you take a look at the options from Mophie and Anker that both feature a 5,000mAh battery. To put this into reference, let’s take a look at the battery capacity of the iPhone 12 models:
- iPhone 12 mini – 2,227mAh
- iPhone 12 / 12 Pro – 2,815mAh
- iPhone 12 Pro Max – 3,687mAh
So as you can see, this tiny battery won’t even be able to fully-charge the 12 Mini from 0-100%. That’s our first disappointment right there, but in reality, you likely won’t be trying to use the MagSafe Battery Pack when your iPhone is already out of juice. And that’s where Apple’s option comes in compared to the likes of Anker and Mophie.
In my testing, I only have an iPhone 12 Pro Max, so it’s a bit of an unfair fight for the MagSafe Battery Pack. Nevertheless, here’s what I found when using this Battery Pack with my iPhone:
So in two hours, the MagSafe Battery Pack added almost 50% of juice back to my 12 Pro Max. That’s pretty good right? Well here’s the other point that I didn’t reveal. I was using my iPhone 12 Pro Max throughout the span of those two hours. Using it to listen to podcasts and do some quick web searches while letting the Battery Pack do its work.
So for Apple’s solution to still give me almost a 50% boost to the iPhone with the biggest battery, is pretty darn impressive. But the Battery Pack can actually do much more than just attaching to the back of your iPhone 12.
It can also work as a portable wireless charger for your Qi-enabled devices such as the Airpods or Airpods Pro. Just simply flip it upside down, with the Apple logo facing downwards, and place your Airpods case in the middle of the ring. The LED indicator on your Airpods will turn on letting you know it’s actually being charged.
But wait, there’s more! Unlike the aforementioned options from Anker and Mophie, Apple’s MagSafe Battery Pack will show up in the Batteries widget on your iPhone. This is an expected function, but a welcome one nonetheless.
Apple MagSafe Battery Pack Review: Should You Buy One?
I’m going to be honest here. If it weren’t for my affinity for having Apple-branded accessories to go with my iPhone, I would not have purchased the Battery Pack. Both Mophie’s and Anker’s options have a higher battery capacity, while being priced at 50% lower than Apple’s solution. No, they don’t come in different colors, as Anker uses a matte finish, and Mophie makes use of a fabric-like finish on its battery pack.
So should you buy the MagSafe Battery Pack for yourself? If you’re okay with not being able to get a full 0-100% charge, want integration with the Batteries Widget, and have the money to spend, then go for it. I’m still going to hold out hope that more accessory makers release portable MagSafe batteries, as these are extremely convenient to just throw in a bag. But also be prepared to have to wipe down the Apple option thanks to the soft-white silicone.
If you want to pick up the Apple MagSafe Battery Pack for yourself, it’s available from Amazon for 99 with two-day Prime Shipping.
Andrew is a freelance writer based on the East Coast of the US.
He has written for a variety of sites over the years, including i, Android Central, Phandroid, and a few others. Now, he spends his days working for an HVAC company, while moonlighting as a freelance writer at night.
Apple MagSafe Battery Pack Review
Once you get past the price, the Apple MagSafe Battery Pack is a capable device that wins out due to its deep integration with iOS. This is a handy accessory for those with an iPhone 12 Mini or an iPhone 12 but hardly a must-have.
Introduction
Like a lot of Apple’s own accessories for its iPhones, the MagSafe Battery Pack has caused quite the stir since its stealthy release.
The usual calls of being overpriced, lacking in features and so on have been easy to spot in any online discussion about the charger. Yet, after spending some time with it, it’s clear that it serves its purpose very well.
This is easily the most worthwhile MagSafe-branded accessory I have used since the tech was reborn as a magnetic iPhone system alongside the iPhone 12.
Design
The MagSafe Battery Pack is small, simple and distinctly Apple. There are no buttons anywhere, just a Lightning port and an LED that indicates when it’s charged or being charged.
In terms of size, it’s almost exactly the width of the iPhone 12 Mini. It’s small enough to slip into a alongside the phone (11m thick) and it’s very light (113g).
There’s one colour option – white, with a grey back. I can see this getting dirty over time, especially if you keep it in your jeans, so it would have been nice to have a darker shade made available too.
The outer shell is made from a soft-touch plastic that has a nice, grippy texture to it, and the back has a rubberised pad to make sure it sticks to your phone. It’s all very simple and stylish.
There has been some concern about just how strong the magnets are in these MagSafe accessories. The Wallet, for instance, received some criticism for popping off too easily. I’ve found the connection between the battery pack and the phone to be strong, even more so if you’ve got a case on.
There’s a bit of wobble towards the bottom and it will fall off if you really shake the phone, but you probably shouldn’t be shaking your phone in the first place.
Battery Life and Features
The MagSafe Battery Pack isn’t designed to be a charger to give your iPhone 12 multiple boosts.
It is not competing against those hefty packs from the likes of Anker that can keep your phone chugging along through a weekend at Glastonbury or on a camping holiday.
Instead, this is more for those situations where you’re running for the last tube and your phone is close to the red, or waiting for someone’s call and you’re away from the plug.
This purpose is made clear by both the size of the pack itself and, in turn, the fairly small 1460mAh battery. I tested this with all three sizes of iPhone 12 (12 Mini, 12 and 12 Pro Max) and it couldn’t give any of them a full charge.
On the iPhone 12 Mini, it took a completely depleted device to 78%; an iPhone 12 to 60% and an iPhone 12 Pro Max to 49%. Of course, these figures will likely vary, but it’s a handy guide.
Interestingly, the first time you attach the add-on to your phone you’ll get a pop-up saying it won’t attempt to charge your phone past 90%. This makes sense, as it requires a lot of oomph to fill that final 10% and Apple clearly feels the trade-off in efficiency isn’t worth it. If you disagree and want to push it, then there’s an option in the Control Centre to disregard this limit.
When you snap the magnetic battery pack to the back of your phone it will charge at 5W. This is fairly slow, but the same speed is provided by the Anker 5K. 5W is roughly the same as the older plugs that came with iPhones until the 11 series and it does feel very slow if you’re used to something faster. For example, the MagSafe Battery Pack took 120 minutes to charge up a 12 Pro Max until it ran out.
Another use of the MagSafe Battery Pack is as a portable 15W wireless charger. This works when the battery is plugged into a fast USB-C plug. As MagSafe is backwards compatible with Qi, it will charge other phones and accessories like Airpods Pro too – but always at a maximum of 5W. I attached a Pixel 5 and it charged fine.
When the MagSafe Battery Pack runs out of charge there are a number of ways to top it up. You can plug a Lightning cable into the bottom and charge from there, or attach it to the back of an iPhone 12 series and plug the cable into the iPhone. This will then intelligently charge both the phone and battery pack.
The most unique charging method is when you attach the battery to the iPhone and then plug a cable into the battery itself. This then uses a form of reverse wireless charging to juice up both devices. This is another area where the MagSafe Battery Pack shines. Other similar packs I have tried require charging separate to the phone, but due to Apple’s control over the ecosystem, you can charge both with one cable. It is worth noting you don’t get a cable with the Battery Pack, so you’ll need the one from your iPhone.
What you can’t do though is use this to charge other devices with a cable. This is a limit of Lightning not being capable of charging in both directions. If you want to share the power here with a friend, you’ll have to hope they have a Qi-enabled phone.
There’s deep integration in other parts of iOS 14.7 too. You’ll get a pop-up every time you attach the pack with a charge update, and it’ll be visible in the handy iOS battery widget too. If you’ve ever used the previous iPhone battery cases then you’ll be very familiar with this as it’s something you don’t get with third-party products. It’s a shame Apple doesn’t allow accessory makers access to these parts of the OS.
Does the battery pack stay secure?
In my hands-on time with the battery pack, it was extremely secure and didn’t come loose. It features the same two magnets as other MagSafe accessories—a circle and line. The circle magnet does the heavy lifting of keeping it in place, while the line is supposed to keep it from shifting left or right.
In practice, once the pack is secure and aligned, it doesn’t move. Even while handling the phone.
Does it come off while putting it in a ? It didn’t for me. Both with jeans and shorts, it stayed on well. It has a more secure hold than the MagSafe Wallet that Apple sells.
How does it feel? The exterior is smooth, hard plastic. It looks like a rubbery silicone-type material in pictures, but it isn’t. It feels really nice to hold. It’s hard to tell how the material will hold up and look over time, but after a few days, it still looks nice.
How does the Apple MagSafe Battery Pack compare to Anker’s, Mophie’s and others’?
I’ve tested the HyperJuice magnetic battery pack from Hyper, and it’s similar in a lot of ways, including its speed and size. It also charges at 5 watts when on the go. It’s about the same length and width as Apple’s.
In terms of advantages, the HyperJuice has four lights to indicate its remaining battery charge. It uses USB-C to recharge and can do pass-through charging, enabling a USB-C cable to recharge your iPhone. It also has more listed battery capacity to charge an iPhone 12 nearly one full time.
The Anker PowerCore Magnetic 5K and Mophie Snap Plus Juice Pack Mini are also very similar and offer the speed, capacity and relative size to Hyper’s and third-party packs.
The biggest difference may be the price. Each of the third-party options mentioned retail at less than half of Apple’s 99 price.
Should you buy the Apple MagSafe Battery Pack?
There are two main reasons to buy the Apple MagSafe Battery Pack: its smaller physical size and its doubling as a MagSafe charger. It’s easier to justify the price if you’re going to use this as a MagSafe charger on your desk at home and a battery pack while you’re out. Plus, it’s the thinnest one available, if that’s a concern.
There are plenty of reasons not to get it, too. The biggest consideration (aside from price) is its capacity. If having your phone be able to last just a little bit longer will keep you from needing to bring along a charger and cord and to look for outlets throughout your day, then the Apple MagSafe Battery Pack could be great. If anything less than at least one full recharge added to your phone won’t solve your power problems, this Apple battery pack probably isn’t a solution for you.
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How to Prevent My Magsafe Charging Ruin My Battery?
At the end of the day, the key to Magsafe charging is the experience itself.
One last hilarious thing to share, you can easily reform a non-Magsafe charger into a Magsafe charger by adding a magnet coil between your phone and the charger. LOL!