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Hands-On With Apple's iPhone 12 and 12 Pro MagSafe Cases

I’m thinking MagSafe has about the same strength as the Apple Watch charger. As such will work fine and probably as designed as a charger. I like that it’ll “find its place“ on the phone. I don’t know how many times I cam back to an uncharged phone because I quickly put it down or it got bumped off center of my wireless charger. That being said I can believe that wallet is being released. Surely the people at Apple had to know it’s a PITA. Oh and there was a leather sleeve during the release video. Haven’t seen anything about it. I used to always use a sleeve and keep the phone bare.
 
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AngerDanger said:
I opened the compass, slid the MagSafe charger around on the back of my phone, and it didn't change the orientation.

I even tried in airplane mode in case it was using some odd combo of wi-fi, GPS, and bluetooth to help triangulate it aside from magnets.
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Conversion therapy doesn’t work on magnets you mad man!!
 
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I don’t know if it has been said yet but maybe there was a defective batch of wallets. UR Average Consumer on YouTube tested it and it worked fine for him. He didn’t think there’d be any problems.
 
4jasontv said:
The same people who claim it falls off are the same ones that claimed the iPhone 4 has reception issues when you cover it with both hands. It's probably fine.

Edit: I watched the video. It is fine. Works exactly as expected.
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Uh, what? Did you try the iPhone 4 without a case? If you touched two of the antenna bands together with your fingers the reception dropped significantly, like 90%.

> Works exactly as expected.

So it works terribly, as expected. Cool.
 
djcraze said:
Uh, what? Did you try the iPhone 4 without a case? If you touched two of the antenna bands together with your fingers the reception dropped significantly, like 90%.

> Works exactly as expected.

So it works terribly, as expected. Cool.
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It required a death grip in the most awkward way possible. There was nothing wrong with the phone and most people had no idea there could be an issue.
 
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I will get the MagSafe charger, but will forego Apple cases. Other than the bumper for iPhone 4, I’ve never been keen on Apple cases. A premium price for a subpar product. Many $10-$20 cases on Amazon have done a great job over the years.

Shame too, because this was one instance I really wanted to get an official Apple case and wallet because I was under the impression the magnets were stronger. Ah well. It’s a minor quibble in the long run. By all accounts of the reviews I’ve read, the 12 pro is a solid upgrade over my XR.


djcraze said:
Uh, what? Did you try the iPhone 4 without a case? If you touched two of the antenna bands together with your fingers the reception dropped significantly, like 90%.

> Works exactly as expected.

So it works terribly, as expected. Cool.
Click to expand...

I had no issues with the 4. I got the bumper because it was free, but I never had reception issues.
 
GDF said:
Received the clear Apple case and it is a fingerprint magnet. Won’t be keeping that and will wait for the leather cases. Makes no sense Apple did not come out with the leather cases when the phones were released.

Will be returning my wallet case too when that comes. Why have a case that won’t stay on. If that is true, very big fail.
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Are we for sure getting a full leather case? So far I’ve heard they are ditching leather all together and the only thing we are getting is the walled add on.

I got the clear case yesterday with the magsafe charger and can attest it will leave fingerprints but still I love the grip i had on the phone with the leather case over the silicone/clear cases they provide but don’t know if Apple will for sure release any of them
 
If rumors are true and iPhone of 2021 is indeed portless, than what will be in the box next time? Just a phone and no cable at all making the packaging even smaller? What do you guys think?
 
All of that fuss just to achieve the mythical portless phone? Wow. I wish they had just gone with usb-c instead. It's as future proof as it needs to be for the next few years.

If it's not ready for primetime, just don't do it. Same way they still haven't done 120Hz ProMotion even though it's arguably a more sought after feature. With the price Apple commands, it's inexcusable using their flagship products to beta-test features on consumers. And all of these early reviews are still fresh out of the box. I wonder how it will age in 6 months from now, after sufficient wear and tear.
 
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thomas-chk said:
If rumors are true and iPhone of 2021 is indeed portless, than what will be in the box next time? Just a phone and no cable at all making the packaging even smaller? What do you guys think?
Click to expand...

And another box for the cable. And another box for the wall plug. The "environmentalist" approach to unbundling peripherals hasn't aged very well and it's just been a week.
 
ouimetnick said:
Not sure what they were going for with the MagSafe name. The whole idea is that MagSAFE is that it keeps the device safe by disconnecting should the cord be tripped over or tugged, hence the SAFE in the name. But it seems it stays attached when picking up the phone. Hopefully this so called MagSafe and the associated accessories aren’t as bad as it seems. Perhaps the phone adds more Meg Eric strength for the wallet?

Seems that the wallet should attach strongly and the charger not so much.
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It's like they don't understand their own products and product history, using trademarked and celebrated labels as simple monikers without meaning. Kinda like the "Air" not being the slimmest device anymore, but meaning.. something open to interpretation? Reeks of product management oversight.
 
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After watching the two "jiggle" videos - I have to admit, I don't get the point of the MagSafe charger. I mean, yeah, it charges. But with the whole "snap to the back" of the iPhone 12 thing - it looks like it's going to take two hands to get it off of the charger. And that's the point I don't get. I've got a couple of Qi chargers and I just set my phone down on them, and when I'm ready to go, I pick it up and go. Yes - it's kind of a pain to slide the phone around until it aligns properly - but I can still do this one handed. This MagSafe charger looks like I'll have to pick up the phone, and then with my other hand pull the MagSafe charger off the back. I just don't understand how that's better. What's the point of a big magnetic charging puck on the back that stays on there when you pick up the phone? If someone wants to use their phone while charging it - get a longer lightning cable.
 
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I bet this would be neat for Uber drivers 😄

With the wallet though, wouldn't the magnets mess with the magstripes on your credit cards? I know that most Apple users will either use Apple Pay, contactless, or will run the EMV chip, but if you ever need to pay with a card at some mom and pop place that doesn't accept chip...
 
meru890 said:
MKBD's video was really devastating and the wallet feature indeed looks horrible as if nobody at Apple ever felt the use of testing it in real life :D
Click to expand...

It's like they only design for impressionable Bay Area Apple loyalists with more money than sense of what to do with it.
 
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tidybowl said:
After watching the two "jiggle" videos - I have to admit, I don't get the point of the MagSafe charger. I mean, yeah, it charges. But with the whole "snap to the back" of the iPhone 12 thing - it looks like it's going to take two hands to get it off of the charger. And that's the point I don't get. I've got a couple of Qi chargers and I just set my phone down on them, and when I'm ready to go, I pick it up and go. Yes - it's kind of a pain to slide the phone around until it aligns properly - but I can still do this one handed. This MagSafe charger looks like I'll have to pick up the phone, and then with my other hand pull the MagSafe charger off the back. I just don't understand how that's better. What's the point of a big magnetic charging puck on the back that stays on there when you pick up the phone? If someone wants to use their phone while charging it - get a longer lightning cable.
Click to expand...
I‘m guessing you’d pick up the phone, slide your index finger round the back and push the puck sideways. The magnets would disengage and the puck would drop back to the table.

Can anyone try this?
 
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At first I liked your comment because I agree, but what if the iPhone 12 magnets strengthen the magnetic attraction of the wallet together?

Edit: Nevermind, he’s clearly using an iPhone 12 in the test... wow. Apple fail
 
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Hmm. I did order the MagSafe Wallet. I'm going to use my iPhone 12 Pro Max without a case and I thought the idea behind the MagSafe Wallet was kinda nice. I could use it as a standalone wallet and just snap it on the back of my phone when needed.

Judging by all the videos shown so far the magnets are not nearly as strong as they need to be for the wallet to make any sense. Sure I didn't expect it to be able to hold on when going in and out of tight pockets. But the magnets look to be so weak that I can't really understand why it exists? It looks like it will slide off in almost any scenario.

It also seems like you are barely able to have any cards within it. You are going to be limited to two, tops three cards? That would have made sense if it was actually able to stay attached to the phone. I don't expect my phone to be able to hold more than 3-4 cards. But as it's mostly a standalone wallet that you might attach to your phone when it's outside your pockets for some slightly added convenience I would expect it to at least be capable of housing 4 cards.

It justs ends up being a rather expensive standalone wallet limited to housing only two cards? This makes it fail on both ends. It fails as an iPhone accessory, and it fails as a decent wallet. I have a hard time understanding what they were going for here.
 
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ive lost my phone before, and ive lost my wallet before.
When i lost my phone, it sucked but at least it was locked and i eventually got it back after complaining to uber the guy turned it off so i couldnt track it.
When I lost my wallet somewhere, it sucked more but I could use my phone to cancel my cards, etc.

If i misplace both, well that just sucks x2.

I vote no on the wallet on phone
 
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