Hands-On With Apple's iPhone 12 MagSafe Wallet Attachment

[scotio200]

Can't help but think the hole on the back of the wallet is the main reason it's not holding as well as the MagSafe puck does. Looks like it will cut off a good portion of the magnets at the top and only be using the bottom 2/3 of them. Has anyone used that magnet paper that MKBHD uses to see where the magnets are on this?

They could have implemented a pull tab at the bottom of this to eject the cards and not had the hole on the bottom, that way it might have been more secure and you wouldn't need to remove it to take a card out.

 

[Macmelman]

I tried a car phone holder this weekend with an iPhone 12 Pro and my phone went flying when we went over a bump in the road. Magsafe is way too weak to be useful.

Let's hope the "official" Belkin accesory works better. If anything that would be the only magnet accesory I will buy. But only if my phone is safely attached to it while driving.

 

[ani4ani]

It is blatantly contrived, as are many of the comments on this thread to be honest. I wish people would wait to judge this product wait until it’s out in the real word.

I have one of these and have been using it these past two days. It’s best thought of as a cardholder that magnetically attaches to your phone (if you wish it to). You can reach into your pocket and slide the wallet of your phone to use it and then return it to the back of your phone in your pocket, if you like the idea of keeping everything together. It’s also very nice to use the iPhone with the wallet attached, as the wallet provides extra grip.

Personally, I love it, and due to the various wallet / case colour combinations, it adds a level of customisation to the iPhone that I appreciate (rather like the Apple Watch with its different bands etc).

You actually slide the wallet off the phone in your pocket? Then you have rendered the one slightly plausible reason for the wallet (being connected to the phone) pointless. Here’s an idea, put your wallet in your pocket?

 

[goobot]

Nah they are pushing this because they want to go portless next year...

You aren’t wrong, I hope they don’t do it cause I want to upgrade next year.

 

[atomic.flip]

it's better to have an accessory than to not have anything. You are not forced to buy this accessory and I just see people whining for the sake of whining.

What do you expect to read when you come on line? People who complain about people complaining are the biggest hypocrites of them all. LOL

 

[locrumo]

This product is designed by people who never leave their office desk. Similar products: iphone 12 series without Touch ID in 2020. Thanks Apple-

 

[yegon]

You aren’t wrong, I hope they don’t do it cause I want to upgrade next year.

Same. If next years has a port, 120hz, Touch ID + 5G (obviously), I could ride that phone out for 3+ years.

 

[NightFox]

I tried a car phone holder this weekend with an iPhone 12 Pro and my phone went flying when we went over a bump in the road. Magsafe is way too weak to be useful.

Don't forget that for accessories that require a strong hold, such as car phone holders, the accessory can also have a magnet to increase the attraction as much as you need. There's going to be a limit on how strong you want the MagSafe magnet to be on the actual phone in terms of interference and just being a nuisance, but that doesn't limit the potential strength and uses of MagSafe if you look at both sides of the equation, i.e. phone and accessories.

 

[NightFox]

Nah they are pushing this because they want to go portless next year...

But the elephant in the room there is CarPlay - Apple's going to need to come up with a solution there for the millions of existing wired CarPlay users who aren't going to upgrade their phones if they'll lose CarPlay, and find a way to appease license-paying vehicle manufacturers who are still going to be churning out millions of cars with wired CarPlay as a selling feature when the next iPhone launches.

 

[ruka.snow]

Apart from in places when you can't use Apple Pay!

There are zero places I can't use Apple Pay. From the bus to the ice cream shop to even the crepe stall in the middle of nowhere. Every single place takes contactless and Apple Pay.

 

[amartinez1660]

I ordered and picked up the wallet at the apple store using public transport.
I thought it would be a handy case for checking in/out system.
I put the public transport card in the wallet. When i arrived at my stop it wouldnot check me out.. then i realized it had a scanner protection. I missed my stop and had to travel back from the next stop.

So, for this to work i have to
- get my phone out of my pocket
- remove the wallet
- put my phone back because you need two hand for:
- slide out the card
- check out
- put card back
- get phone
- attach wallet
- put away the phone
- walk out the transport


.. NICE! .. its so wrong its funny again .. love the useless product

Hahah!
Suddenly it’s a good thing that magnet is not strong as you could just slide out the wallet directly from the pocket skipping a few steps there of your recipe, making this utterly useless, same as just having a wallet and a phone completely detached.

Honestly when I read the first time about this it did sound like a fun idea but there’s some practicality issues definitely, a pouch inside of a pouch of sorts... this is a grouping and organization problem, the extremes being all objects left as single units (all cards, keys, coins, etc left free) making it all chaotic inside the pockets or grouping so much (wallets inside wallets) that a lot of unfolding steps (and potential mishaps) are needed to get to the single object.

 

[loekf]

But the elephant in the room there is CarPlay - Apple's going to need to come up with a solution there for the millions of existing wired CarPlay users who aren't going to upgrade their phones if they'll lose CarPlay, and find a way to appease license-paying vehicle manufacturers who are still going to be churning out millions of cars with wired CarPlay as a selling feature when the next iPhone launches.

Let me correct. Buying a NEW car with wireless Carplay because Apple dropped a physical interface from iPhones.

Wireless Carplay is not a very common feature, at least here in Europe.

And the speed of innovation among carmakers is very very slow.

 

[TomOSeven]

Seems like a lot of people want to complain. Welcome to first gem MagSafe which will only get better and more robust overtime.

The apologists are out in full force again.

"Just because a product is terrible, doesn't mean you shouldn't buy it! How dare you question my mindless consumption!"

 

[djcerla]

I wonder how many millions of dollars of R&D Apple spent developing this total fail of an accessory "ecosystem"? Biggest over-promise/under-deliver by Apple in a long time.

This is not going to age well.

 

[Parkin Pig]

I think it’s great and will only get more exciting overtime. People ******** for the sake of ********.

I'm so glad my excitement threshold extends beyond a magnetic leather sleeve.

 

[TomOSeven]

It is actually better to not have a failed accessory, than to have one. Apples philosophy is not to try to do everything, but whatever they do, they focus on perfecting.
funny - you sound like the person whining for the sake of whining here.

I think the default assumption on this website isn't:
"Why would I buy this?"
It's:
"I will definitely buy this, hope I can come up with a post hoc justification."

 

[meady100]

I'm just at a loss. How does the world's biggest company allow a product as flawed as this to get through to production?

 

[UBS28]

But guys, this case is better for the environment.

 

[Parkin Pig]

I'm just at a loss. How does the world's biggest company allow a product as flawed as this to get through to production?

Because there are millions of people who would buy a turd if it had the Apple logo on.

 

[DeltaSVO]

I can only dream of a future where all businesses support Apple Pay and where you can have an ID on your phone and avoid carrying any wallets all together. Maybe someday.

Come to Europe. I don't remember the last time I've used a physical card or cash in either Norway or Russia. I leave my house only with an ID and my phone.

 

[otternonsense]

This is a very strange product. The vision of Apple is to replace your wallet with an iPhone. They’ve been working on that for many years with the Wallet app, Express Transit, Apple Pay, ... With this product, it feels like they’ve given up on that dream. I rather have them announce further partnerships to introduce digital ID, driver’s license, insurance cards, ...

It already felt like that when they released that ridiculous physical Apple Card that gets damaged by pocket lint and can only be cleaned with a special cloth.

 

[otternonsense]

I wonder how many millions of dollars of R&D Apple spent developing this total fail of an accessory "ecosystem"? Biggest over-promise/under-deliver by Apple in a long time.

I wonder how many of these millions could have been invested in successfully implementing ProMotion or miniaturising the notch's sensors instead of this gimmicky trash. Waste of money, waste of talent, waste of the beloved MagSafe name.

 

[Abazigal]

...because NOBODY puts their phone into their pocket with the screen facing outwards.

I am not sure if you are being sarcastic or not, but that’s how I have been carrying my iphone ever since I got the first one. It goes into my pants pocket with the screen facing outwards. I mean, when I sit down, why would I want the screen to be pressed against my leg? And when I take it out, this is a natural position for me to rest my thumb against the fingerprint sensor (still using a 8+ here) to unlock it.

So I imagine if I were to get the iPhone 12 with the wallet attachment, it would go into my pocket facing inwards, so even if it falls off, it would still be inside my pocket?

 

[votdfak]

I had problems where my Airpods case demagnetized subway tickets. I can only imagine iPhone killing magnet stripe on CCs.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

Obviously this isn't a major product, but could this be the worst idea for a product Apple has had in decades? I would never put my cards in this thing.

Siri Remote.