I Tried A Bunch of Magsafe Accessories Here's Everything I Learned

Magsafe is the ring of magnets on the backside of every iPhone starting with the 12 series. The magnetic ring enables you to attach anything that’s “magsafe” compatible to the back of your phone magnetically. So when it was released, Apple made a few accessories that use it, so that iPhone users have an idea as to what to expect from magsafe type accessories. The most common magsafe accessories I’ve seen are chargers, wallets, mounts, and batteries.

Belkin 3-in-1 BoostCharge Pro: https://amzn.to/3LRacIW
Belkin Charging Stand: https://amzn.to/45peUET
UCOMX Travel 3-in-1 charge pad: https://amzn.to/3trxXRx
Anker Wireless Charging Cube: https://amzn.to/46FNFGX
Anker Magnetic Battery Pack: https://amzn.to/3tq2ZcF
Belkin Magsafe Charger: https://amzn.to/3FbO7Bb
Popsocket Wallet: https://amzn.to/3Fa4HS4
Stouchi Magsafe Camera Mount: https://amzn.to/3Q6kJCE
3-in-1 Charging station (Belkin Dupe): https://amzn.to/3ZLcLCa
Apple Wallet: https://amzn.to/46oRbpE
Apple Battery Pack: https://amzn.to/3tubVgO

Timestamps:
0:00 Intro - What is MagSafe?
2:09 MagSafe Chargers
4:39 MagSafe Charging Docks
6:23 Travel MagSafe Chargers
8:32 Magsafe Wallets
10:45 Mounts
12:06 Magsafe Battery Banks
13:58 Conclusion

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Qi wireless charging is nice to have, you slap your phone on the charger and you're good. But it can be finicky, and to get the max charging speed it has to be in the exact right spot on the charging pad. That’s where Magsafe comes in. By linking the magnets, your phone and wireless charger can be perfectly aligned every time for the maximum charging speed. But that’s only if you have a magsafe charger like Apple’s or a magsafe charger that specifically states that it supports 15W charging for the iPhone. Apple only allows magsafe chargers the ability to charge this fast, and not other Qi chargers. And you may run into magsafe enabled chargers that only use the Qi standard instead of Apple’s “fast charging”, which apple only allows charging your phone at 7.5w. Half the speed of Magsafe.

There are multi-device docking stations that charge more than your phone. The idea is to be able to charge your phone, apple watch and airpods all at the same time without having wires dangling for all of them. This makes them perfect on nightstands, desks, and side tables. I like this jumbled English no-name one because aesthetically it didn’t look like a weird tower sitting on your desk like many of the other ones, and because the magsafe puck can be stood up so that you can have your phone levitating and upright. Super useful if you want to start using your iPhone on standby mode once iOS 17 releases. If you want the best charging speeds. I suggest the Belkin 3-in-1 BoostCharge Pro charging pad. It looks nice and has fast charging, MagSafe, and an Apple watch charger. It's pricey, though.

Lastly, we have battery banks. The benefit of these is that you can slap them on your phone needing a cable to charge your phone, it will just magnetically stay on your phone. I haven’t tried too many of them, but Apple does offer a first-party Magsafe battery pack that wirelessly charges the phone. That thing gives you the benefit of some iPhone-specific features that regular battery packs don’t have like telling how much charge is left, and charging your phone as it needs it, instead of being a dumb battery that’s on constantly and can actually reverse charge back to the pack when your iPhone is plugged in. But other manufacturers have created their own magsafe battery packs too. Like this MagGo magsafe battery bank from Anker. This thing has a built-in flap that can become a kickstand, and still charge your devices through the usb-c port on the battery pack. It’s half the price of the Apple magsafe battery pack and lets you use the port to charge any device. While magsafe battery packs are cool, wireless charging is more inefficient compared to wired charging, so you don’t get the same amount of charge from a similar-sized battery pack.

I think Magsafe is a really convenient feature that can help you better keep your things attached to your phone, these are things you've already thought of doing, but it now enables you to quickly change out your accessory on the fly without the mess of adhesives, or removing tight-fitting cases. Magsafe makes using accessories a little easier, and I hope it gets even better.