Apple Provides Reason for iPhone 16e's Lack of MagSafe

[Lioness~]

Wired or wireless? How many Watts?

High wattage is not good for the battery. Wireless is also not good for the battery. Charging to 100% is not good for the battery. However, it’s cumulative but it’s not as if doing any of these things is going to be an immediate disaster for your battery. Apple’s charging protocols try to minimize the damage to the battery even when you use some or all of these features. For example, Apple iPhones will reduce power draw for iPhone charging after a certain amount of charge.

Good to know - The chargers for the phone are wireless, from a Swedish company called Andersson.
Input: DC 5V 2.0A/9V 1.67A - output: 5W/7,5W/10W
My phone like it, still behaves like a young teen 😉

In comparison to my USB-C iPad mini: 20V -60W, max. - I assume I could use these charges to USB-C-iPhone’s too when I get one, as well as other iPad’s with USB-C.

 

[flogician]

Translation: Margins, man.

Translation: Upsell, man. Market segmentation. Apple has done this for as long as I can remember (decades) -- they design a product, then they remove features that cost pennies in order to justify charging more for the device that has the features that were part of the original/obvious design. "You can have this laptop with a 256GB hard drive, or this other one with a 1TB hard drive that costs us the same or even less because it's actually a high-volume component, but we'll charge you $400 more." So you either pay up front for a laptop that you can actually use, or you buy a new laptop in a few months when you realize you're a "power user," apparently, who needs more than the less-than-bare-minimum. And when people point out that a given product seems expensive for what it is, Apple just points to the bottom-end model and touts the ability to "offload" apps, as if that were a feature and not a bug.

Also, you gotta love the circular logic here:

MagSafe is not included in the iPhone 16e because "most people in the iPhone 16e's target audience exclusively charge their phones by plugging them into a charging cable."

"They don't use it because it's not available, so we're not going to make it available."

Don't get me wrong, I love Apple's engineers, but I loathe their MBAs with their thinly veiled contempt for their customers.

 

[tubular]

I went a long time without appreciating or using MagSafe, now since I've started using it, the lack of it would be a dealbreaker.

I use and appreciate MagSafe for my laptops, and removing it was one of the four cardinal errors of the disastrous 2016-era laptops they ended up having to walk back thanks to consumer revolt. But I never got into the habit with iPhone. If I spent more time in the car, maybe.

 

[Jovijoker]

it’s still a stupid decision and saved them what, a nickel per unit? Apple is in a new Spindler era and needs new leadership.

Perfectly said!

 

[nottorp]

I charge my phone wirelessly. Only because I received a stand of unknown power for free as swag at a conference. If that wouldn't have happened, I'd be still charging wired because I ... don't ... care.

On the other hand I care a lot about MagSafe for laptops. I don't know why, but i've never knocked down a phone that was charging wirelessly, while my laptop's bacon has been saved countless times by the magnetic connector.

 

[Timo_Existencia]

their thinly veiled contempt for their customers.

Please. Apple is a business that creates products. Customers make decisions to buy or not buy those products.

According to a myriad of sources, Apple is among the most beloved companies according to consumers.

But hey, if you can, please quantify this opinion.

 

[tgwaste]

The priced the phone out of their target audience.

 

[Neonblue]

It’s not a deal breaker in the slightest. I’ve not used MagSafe for years, preferring wired charging - I’m definitely in the target demographic for the 16e.

 

[SactoGuy18]

Frankly, I still prefer charging via the USB Type C connector because it's less likely to heat up the phone and you can charge at an initial rate as high as 27 watts with the iPhone 16e. Also, you can get USB Type C power banks that can charge at over 20 watts rate (like the Anker Nano I use).

 

[cocky jeremy]

"You want to be cheap, you'll get a cheap product."

Pretty much that simple. If you want more features, open up that wallet.

 

[Jovijoker]

Cheap excuses!

 

[digimc]

I couldn't care less about MagSafe. To me it has always been more of a gimmick than something that I use all the time. I purchased the iPhone 12 Pro Max when the MagSafe tech debuted on the iPhone. I may have used it maybe for a week and literally never used it again. The problem that I had was that it wasn't very convenient. I would have to place the iPhone on the MagSafe dock, which was at my desk and leave it there. When I wanted to use my phone watching TV or just sitting on the sofa, I would have to get up and go retrieve the phone from the dock at my desk. Just silly really.

Yes I realize that I miss out on the wireless charging features, but it's not that big of a deal to me. Plus since I travel a lot the MagSafe charging abilities are almost completely moot.

Yes it can be a nice feature if it fits into your day to day routine, but it never really did for me.

 

[Neil J. Squillante]

Blame the customer…nice. How the hell do you know the “market” aka poor people, don’t use magsafe chargers?

If people allow analytics tracking, Apple probably does have data about MagSafe usage. Plus they have some MagSafe accessory sales figures and can also run polls. I have mixed feelings about this explanation but on balance I still view the lack of MagSafe as off brand and it’s surprising that Apple doesn’t think it can persuade people through marketing to buy MagSafe accessories.

My mother recently upgraded from an iPhone 11 to 16. I bought her a MagSafe charging stand. I asked her a few questions yesterday (not exact quotes):

1. Did you hear about the new iPhone 16e?

A: No.

2. It lacks two features that your iPhone has. Let’s see if you could live without them. It has only 1 camera. Could you give up 1 of your 2 cameras?

A. I didn’t know my iPhone has 2 cameras!

3. It doesn’t have magnets on the back. Could you give up the magnets?

A: No way! I love charging the iPhone with the magnets.

If it weren’t for me, she would be charging with a cable. But as I have said, once you use MagSafe, there’s no going back. It has a very high attach rate. It’s right up there with Face ID in the hall of fame. Apple Store employees could easily demo MagSafe to sell Apple’s charger or a higher end MagSafe accessory.

 

[EugW]

If people allow analytics tracking, Apple probably does have data about MagSafe usage. Plus they have some MagSafe accessory sales figures and can also run polls. I have mixed feelings about this explanation but on balance I still view the lack of MagSafe as off brand and it’s surprising that Apple doesn’t think it can persuade people through marketing to buy MagSafe accessories.

My mother recently upgraded from an iPhone 11 to 16. I bought her a MagSafe charging stand. I asked her a few questions yesterday (not exact quotes):

1. Did you hear about the new iPhone 16e?

A: No.

2. It lacks two features that your iPhone has. Let’s see if you could live without them. It has only 1 camera. Could you give up 1 of your 2 cameras?

A. I didn’t know my iPhone has 2 cameras!

3. It doesn’t have magnets on the back. Could you give up the magnets?

A: No way! I love charging the iPhone with the magnets.

If it weren’t for me, she would be charging with a cable. But as I have said, once you use MagSafe, there’s no going back. It has a very high attach rate. It’s right up there with Face ID in the hall of fame. Apple Store employees could easily demo MagSafe to sell Apple’s charger or a higher end MagSafe accessory.

Me: 12 Pro Max
Wife: 14 Pro Max

I like MagSafe. My wife couldn’t care less about it (and yes she has a MagSafe charger).

Both of us value the cameras way more than MagSafe.

Different strokes for different folks.

 

[zorinlynx]

I really hope Apple isn't using this phone as a test run to see if people don't mind losing MagSafe.

I'll be VERY pissed off if they get rid of MagSafe completely. I love just throwing my phone on my charging stand every night and having it sit perfectly upright in the air while charging efficiently. It's one of the better features to come to iPhones in the past few years, please don't kill it.

(I also loved this feature when it was called TouchStone and used for Palm devices!)

 

[EugW]

I really hope Apple isn't using this phone as a test run to see if people don't mind losing MagSafe.

I'll be VERY pissed off if they get rid of MagSafe completely. I love just throwing my phone on my charging stand every night and having it sit perfectly upright in the air while charging efficiently. It's one of the better features to come to iPhones in the past few years, please don't kill it.

(I also loved this feature when it was called TouchStone and used for Palm devices!)

Misplaced worry. It’s product segmentation. Obviously you have a higher end model. If you keep buying those more expensive models, you will continue to have MagSafe, for the foreseeable future. Not having MagSafe on the “budget” model will keep you from downgrading at your next purchase.

 

[iBluetooth]

How many people use/care about Apple Intelligence?

This is one of their core feature, so I would not design a new phone without that capability. You need to understand that they just didn't decide on this device last month. It takes at least 2 years to finalize a design and contract all components.

 

[Cunir]

my last two phones have both ended up with problems charging through cables. I had to get them positioned just right to work. Then I switched to MagSafe charging (my current phone always had it but I still charged with a cable) and no more problems. Now I’ve got the wallet and other stuff.

To be honest, having MagSafe is more of a selling point to me then having an incrementally better camera, or being able to use Apple intelligence, neither of which im bothered about

 

[farmboy]

Gruber will never say anything even slightly critical of Apple.

The only real reason is to get more money out of people by pushing them to the regular 16. Just like why the regular 16 lacks ProMotion, to push people to the Pro.

That’s it. No other reason.

So you're saying that you don't understand options, and why they might cost more if you really want them included in whatever product or service you buy, anywhere in the world?

 

[thefrost]

Still not an excuse but better than saying nothing.

 

[farmboy]

The plug eventually wears out if you keep a phone for multiple years.

If that happened to you, that sucks. But we have always plugged in our iPhones at night since the 5, and we have never had the port wear out. We pay a lot for these devices...it pays to be careful.

 

[killr_b]

I really can't understand those who say that they can't recommend the 16e to friends or family because of the lack of MagSafe.

If your friend/family member isn't tech savvy enough to buy a phone without your recommendation, then I would doubt they really care about MagSafe.

I am honestly more fussed about the removal of a physical home button. My Dad and Stepmom are in their 80's and it was hard enough getting them comfortable using an iPhone with a home button. Given what I know about their challenges using touchscreen phones in general, I am not looking forward to the possibility of someday trying to teach them how to use a phone that doesn't have a home button. If their phones quit working I will probably try to find a refurbished SE that still has one.

The rest of my family all use iPhones except for one android user. Out of 10 people, I am the only one who uses MagSafe for anything. I've tried to get my wife to use it, but she would just rather stick to using a normal charging cable.

You can map the action button to be a home button.

 

[deevey]

It's a middle finger to MagSafe accessory partners.

I couldn't care less about the charging, but plenty of static devices in the ecosystem would have benefited as well.

 

[dandyryan]

charging via magsafe is so inefficient. but it wouldve been nice to use magsafe accessories like phone mounts, but i guess ill just use a magsafe case.

 

[castlema]

I am the market segment they are aiming at. I have never felt the need for wireless charging, satellite connectivity, or any of the other examples of the new hotness. I am using an iPhone SE (2nd gen) with a 1 Gb/month data plan and I get along just fine. If something happened to my current phone I would consider the 16e, but nothing more expansive than that.