Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Mag Safe Duo Alternatives?

C7 POWER

C7 POWER

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 10, 2015
2,047
1,420
Charlotte, NC
Has anyone been able to find a good alternative to the Mag Safe Duo Charger that Apple is listing for $129? I love the idea of it, but $129 is absurd, and every review ive seen on it says its great but the price is ridiculous.

Anyone come across alternatives that are good quality that have a Mag Safe feature for the phone to charge and also a spot for the watch?
 
LS3 POWER said:
Has anyone been able to find a good alternative to the Mag Safe Duo Charger that Apple is listing for $129? I love the idea of it, but $129 is absurd, and every review ive seen on it says its great but the price is ridiculous.

Anyone come across alternatives that are good quality that have a Mag Safe feature for the phone to charge and also a spot for the watch?
Click to expand...
Wondering about the same... for me the most important is portability of MagSafe. Excellent for traveling.
 
  • Like
Reactions: C7 POWER
Bazooka-joe said:
Plenty of chinese knockoffs on AliExpress and Ebay for less than £20 But they look cheap and the Apple watch dock doesn't lift upright so that you charge the watch in bedside mode.
Click to expand...
Yeah I wouldnt buy a Chinese knock off, but thought maybe one of the big name companies would make mag safe items as well
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bazooka-joe and petsk
the options that are super cheap are unlikely to actually be MagSafe though so if you want something cheaper I'm sure a 2 in 1 charger from amazon is best bet
 
I got one of those $20 duo chargers without the flip up watch dock from aliexpress. I’ve only tried it a few times so far but the Magsafe animation works with the 18w ipad charger, with the 12w ipad charger it doesn’t display the animation.

Seems to be charging okay, probably about 15w. The iphone or charger doesn’t heat up in any abnormal way. Quality wise it’s worth about the $20. I imagine this thing won’t hold up very long. With it came a low quality usb a to usb c cable that doesn’t fit any recent apple charging bricks. The usb c input connector on the duo charger is low quality, wobbly and not aligned correct.

I would not buy it again now knowing that the watch dock does not flip up. And if you have the link bracelet the watch does not even attach on the watch dock charger.
 
Diode said:
I’ve got one of the more recent ones with the flip up Apple Watch charger from Aliexpress and so far so good.

I haven’t seen it peak at 15w charging yet but I haven’t seen my RAVpoeer mfi certified puck do that either. I’d buy it again, specially for the ~$17 I spent.

https://m.aliexpress.com/item/10050...edetail&spm=a2g0s.12269583.0.0.10251618rL3fDB (white new version is what I go).
Click to expand...
Yeah I saw a YouTube review of one of the new models with the metal surrounds which looks so much better than the original ones that came out from Aliexpress. If I didn’t already have the Apple product I would go for one of those
 
kiranmk2 said:
How are you powering this? From a QC charger or a USB PD charger?
Click to expand...
It does either or (I think) but I have it on a 30w 3.0 PD charger. It states it needs a 20w 3.0 PD charger for the full amount. Fastest charge I’ve gotten has been ~10w (measured with an app that I question the accuracy) and get the MagSafe charge rings with it.

It came with a usb a->c presumably for a QC charger but I tossed it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kiranmk2
Diode said:
It does either or (I think) but I have it on a 30w 3.0 PD charger. It states it needs a 20w 3.0 PD charger for the full amount. Fastest charge I’ve gotten has been ~10w (measured with an app that I question the accuracy) and get the MagSafe charge rings with it.

It came with a usb a->c presumably for a QC charger but I tossed it.
Click to expand...
Thanks - I'm always confused with these cheap devices with USB-C inputs. As you say they always come with USB-A to USB-C ables which implies QC. If the device doesn't understand PD, then a PD charger defaults to 5 V with up to 3 A (15 W). If the device does understand PD then it can negotiate 9 V which would open up 18 W (9 V at 2 A), 20 @ (9 V at 2.2 A) and more.

For just charging my iPhone X and Apple Watch even 15 W will probably max out the charging, but when I eventually upgrade to a Magsafe phone it would be good to have a higher power output charger.
 
kiranmk2 said:
Thanks - I'm always confused with these cheap devices with USB-C inputs. As you say they always come with USB-A to USB-C ables which implies QC. If the device doesn't understand PD, then a PD charger defaults to 5 V with up to 3 A (15 W). If the device does understand PD then it can negotiate 9 V which would open up 18 W (9 V at 2 A), 20 @ (9 V at 2.2 A) and more.

For just charging my iPhone X and Apple Watch even 15 W will probably max out the charging, but when I eventually upgrade to a Magsafe phone it would be good to have a higher power output charger.
Click to expand...
Fully agree. The math on most of these 3rd party or "knockoff" devices just doesn't add up. That said, if a reputable 3rd company comes up with one that runs at 7.5w, that would be plenty good for those with the overnight charging usecase.

I bought a ravpower Magsafe compatible puck for the basement bedroom that fits that need perfectly.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kiranmk2
kiranmk2 said:
Thanks - I'm always confused with these cheap devices with USB-C inputs. As you say they always come with USB-A to USB-C ables which implies QC. If the device doesn't understand PD, then a PD charger defaults to 5 V with up to 3 A (15 W). If the device does understand PD then it can negotiate 9 V which would open up 18 W (9 V at 2 A), 20 @ (9 V at 2.2 A) and more.

For just charging my iPhone X and Apple Watch even 15 W will probably max out the charging, but when I eventually upgrade to a Magsafe phone it would be good to have a higher power output charger.
Click to expand...

Yup. I'm tempted to get a USB-C meter to see what PD profile it's actually negotiating, but I do think it's 9v 2.2 based on the input rating of the device.

Anyways I'm happy with it and would buy it again. Snaps to the charger for both the watch (an issue I had with another older dual charger) and the phone, so no more wake-ups with an empty phone or watch because I had them off by a hair.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kiranmk2
Received the AliExpress Duo Charger listed above. Took about 3 weeks to get. So far it's working flawlessly. Its charging my iPhone 12 Pro at 7.5w (wasn't expecting to get more than that). Both USB-C and USB-A outlets are charging at the 7.5w rate. Not a bad alternative for $16 compared to $129.
 
Bumping this up - I also bought an AliExpress Duo charger. Worked well for phone and watch, however in less than 6 months the watch charger no longer works. Bit disappointed as I only folded the unit / charge up twice! Still, I guess this is what happens when you buy something a Chinese factory knocks up in two months!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back