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Hands-On With Apple's New Find My-Enabled MagSafe Wallet

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Alongside the iPhone 13 models, Apple introduced a new version of the MagSafe Wallet that first came out last year. This updated version includes Find My technology, and we thought we'd test it out to see how well it works and whether it's a useful feature addition.


Design wise, the new iPhone Leather Wallet with MagSafe looks like the previous version. It's made from leather in a variety of colors and is designed to attach to the back of an iPhone magnetically. There's a single small opening at the top that can hold up to three credit cards.

Because it's MagSafe, it only works with the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 models, and compared to last year's version, there doesn't appear to be an improvement in magnetic strength. It seems to feel about the same, and as with last year's model, there's a chance it can pop off when you're putting your iPhone in a tight pocket.

The major new feature addition is Find My, but it does have some limitations so don't expect it to work like other Apple accessories with Find My enabled.

When you first attach the wallet to a compatible iPhone, it pops up the option to add it to the Find My app. After the MagSafe Wallet is added, you can see it on the Find My map alongside your other devices, but, and this is a big but, only when the wallet is attached to your iPhone.

It has no mechanism for updating its location on its own, and location updates are done through the iPhone. You will get an alert after about one minute if the MagSafe Wallet becomes detached, which is helpful in preventing it from being lost in the first place, but once it's off the iPhone, all you can do is see its last known location.

If the MagSafe Wallet has moved from its last known location collected from when it was last attached to the iPhone, there's no way to locate it. It's worth noting that if you detach the MagSafe Wallet from your iPhone in a store to get a card out and aren't quick in reattaching it, you will get the detaching alert, so that's something of a downside.

Should someone else pick up the MagSafe Wallet, it will show your phone number if attached to their phone so they can get in touch with you.

Apple is offering the iPhone Leather Wallet with MagSafe in Golden Brown, Dark Cherry, Sequoia Green, Midnight, and Wisteria, and it can be purchased from Apple's website for $59.

Article Link: Hands-On With Apple's New Find My-Enabled MagSafe Wallet
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2021/09/23/hands-on-apple-find-my-magsafe-wallet/
I had my wallet fall off once. And that was inside of my pocket. Then again, I don’t wear tight pants. They’re on their way out anyways, so there shouldn’t be any “problems” moving forward.
 
I would be curious whether this functionality works with any 3rd party MagSafe wallets - if so, are there any available that may have a stronger magnet and/or cheaper?
 
Mike MA said:
When going outside with only limited accessories I tend to explicitly not put my phone and credit card together or the same pocket to not lose both in parallel. But maybe than I’m wearing it wrong :rolleyes:
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Neither do I. Phone left, wallet right. Never shall the two mix. Lol

Never understood putting all your eggs in one basket. I get the convenience aspect but it just seems foolish.
 
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AbSoluTc said:
Neither do I. Phone left, wallet right. Never shall the two mix. Lol

Never understood putting all your eggs in one basket. I get the convenience aspect but it just seems foolish.
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Do you think you might lose both of your pockets at the same time? LOL
 
It sounds like there is no AirTag hardware in the wallet, and this is just software. Highly limited, but still a good advancement.

The question is why then, is this functionality limited to new wallets only?

I really hope there is a good reason for this, because Apple has done a great job, despite many accusations to the contrary, of supporting old hardware which is good for customers and great for the planet. It would be a shame for Apple to give up this high-ground for a cheap accessory.
 
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Related(ish): are the magnets in the 13 series any stronger than the 12 series? As I've heard no mention of such, I assume they're the same strength.
 
I don't understand. If the iPhone 12 could recognize when the old MagSafe wallet was attached (with that animation), why can't it keep track of when you last removed it? Why do you need to buy a new wallet?

The only thing I can think of is maybe the old wallets had one generic NFC tag for a wallet, while the new ones each have a unique NFC tag that can be named. But I don't know exactly how that technology works.
 
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tgwaste said:
I don't understand why this just isn't a software thing.
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Since the article talked about recognizing the attached phone is not the owner’s, I guess it has some nfc identifier for the phone to recognize this specific wallet? Thus it’s not just a sw thing but some kind of nfc chip built into the wallet? I wonder how can iPhone handle two nfc at the same time (wallet and Apple Pay)
 
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Since the wallet can display your phone number when attached to someone else's phone, that info must be stored and encrypted on the wallet (or on the cloud) in some fashion. So that is a function that could not have been added to the old wallet even if an old wallet could be tracked as to when it disconnected from the phone.
 
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dannyyankou said:
There's lots of third party options. And if apple switched to vegan leather, I'd just switch to a third party that uses real leather :D
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Why, if the quality and durability is more or less the same? Sure there are third party options but maybe I like Apple's offering and think they should provide option for those who try to avoid butchering of animals when possible.
 
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