iPhone 16e, MagSafe cases and Qi chargers?

[dave559]

Sorry if this is a stupid series of questions, but I'm not very clear about the whole phone MagSafe thing.

I know that the iPhone 16e doesn't have MagSafe built-in, but there seem to be lots of "MagSafe" phone cases available for it. I'm assuming that these don't miraculously provide any charging capability and are really just intended as magnets for 'sticking' the phone to a matching car mount and the like?

If I did have a MagSafe / Qi2 magnetic charging puck/stand, would this actually be able to charge the phone at all (and safely), "passing through" to the phone's Qi1 charging coils behind the case, or do Qi2 pucks require a real MagSafe interface directly built into the phone in order to actually work at all?

Similarly, I have a few existing Qi1 charging stands at home and work for my old phone. If I were to get a "MagSafe" case for my iPhone 16e, would the Qi1 chargers be able to charge the phone (in the case), and do so safely? The instructions for Qi1 chargers generally say not to try to charge a phone in any sort of case containing metal parts, finger rings, etc, so would the "MagSafe" part of these cases be a problem in practice (and would I really be better/safer just getting a standard phone case with no MagSafe ring instead - I'd really rather not have to continually take the phone out of the case to charge it)?

 

[SunMac]

Sorry if this is a stupid series of questions, but I'm not very clear about the whole phone MagSafe thing.

I know that the iPhone 16e doesn't have MagSafe built-in, but there seem to be lots of "MagSafe" phone cases available for it. I'm assuming that these don't miraculously provide any charging capability and are really just intended as magnets for 'sticking' the phone to a matching car mount and the like?

If I did have a MagSafe / Qi2 magnetic charging puck/stand, would this actually be able to charge the phone at all (and safely), "passing through" to the phone's Qi1 charging coils behind the case, or do Qi2 pucks require a real MagSafe interface directly built into the phone in order to actually work at all?

Similarly, I have a few existing Qi1 charging stands at home and work for my old phone. If I were to get a "MagSafe" case for my iPhone 16e, would the Qi1 chargers be able to charge the phone (in the case), and do so safely? The instructions for Qi1 chargers generally say not to try to charge a phone in any sort of case containing metal parts, finger rings, etc, so would the "MagSafe" part of these cases be a problem in practice (and would I really be better/safer just getting a standard phone case with no MagSafe ring instead - I'd really rather not have to continually take the phone out of the case to charge it)?

Yeah, I have a 16e with a MagSafe case on it. You can still charge wirelessly just not at the MagSafe speeds.

 

[JSDK]

iPhones with built-in MagSafe can be charged on normal Qi1 wireless chargers without any problems, so that won't be a problem. You can safely use a 3rd party MagSafe case for your 16e, AND charge it on a normal Qi1 charger.

In answer to your second question. Qi2 is "backwards compatible" - so if you charge a device that doesn't support Qi2, you will just experience slower charging. That's it. Neither the charger nor your phone will be damaged by it. Whether you line up the Qi2 charger with a magnet (MagSafe cover) or not doesn't matter. But it is clearly an advantage with a MagSafe cover, as you are then sure that the charger and phone's wireless charging line up perfectly against each other.

I use the 16e myself, with a Spigen Enzo MagSafe case. Experience no problems, neither with Qi2 chargers, Apple's MagSafe puck, or my Satechi MagSafe charging stand.

Remember slow charging can also be an advantage. It puts less strain on the battery. The 16e already has a fairly large battery, so with normal to slightly heavier use, you should be fine with charging overnight.

 

[dave559]

Thanks, both, that's very helpful! 🙂