MagSafe Battery Pack Now Able to Charge at Faster 7.5W Speed After Firmware Update

[MacRumors]

Apple yesterday released a firmware update designed for the MagSafe Battery Pack, and it turns out the new firmware enables 7.5W charging while on the go, up from the previous 5W limit.

In an support document, Apple says that MagSafe Battery Pack owners can update their firmware to the new 2.7.b.0 release to get the faster 7.5W charging capabilities.

Updating the MagSafe Battery Pack can be done by attaching it to an iPhone and waiting (a process that can take up to a week), or using a Mac or an iPad to update within five minutes. Apple suggests users attach a Lightning cable to a MagSafe Battery Pack and then plug in the USB side to an iPad or Mac to initiate the update process.

You can check to see which firmware version your MagSafe Battery Pack is running by attaching it to an iPhone and then going to Settings > General > About > MagSafe Battery Pack. You will need version 2.7.b.0 to get the 7.5W charging.

When the MagSafe Battery Pack was released in July 2021, many users were disappointed to find that it would charge at a maximum of 5W while on the go as other MagSafe accessories can charge at 15W. When plugged in to a Lightning cable, the MagSafe Battery Pack can charge at the full 15W, but that is not possible when it is used without a power source.

As of now, those who install the firmware update can charge their compatible iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 models at a faster 7.5W rate. It's still not as quick as the 15W MagSafe charging, but it is equivalent to the fastest available Qi charging speeds on the iPhone.

Article Link: MagSafe Battery Pack Now Able to Charge at Faster 7.5W Speed After Firmware Update

 

[Mjmar]

Does this mean the battery of my phone won't drain while I have this on now? That's why I returned it

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Honestly, my biggest problem with the MagSafe battery pack, and to be fair pretty much most MagSafe accessories, is that if your phone is heated up at all, they basically become useless.
I completely understand why this is done, because wireless charging creates heat, and heat is not good for the battery.
But my 12 Mini gets warm under even the slightest of loads, which makes the battery pack useless.
If my phone is cool, and barely being used, it can charge my phone from 20% up to somewhere around 85 to 90%.
If my phone is being used or warm, it *might* get up to 50% if I’m lucky.
More than likely I’ll slap it on the back of my phone at 20%, and it will basically hover between 10 and 30% until either the pack dies, or the phone dies and the case can’t put off enough power to boot the phone back up.
This would be fine, if it didn’t mean that the low battery pop-up didn’t show up every single time it dipped above or below 20% or 10%.
That pop-up gets annoying around the fourth or fifth time you see it in 20 minutes

 

[GMShadow]

or using a Mac or an iPad to update within five minutes. Apple suggests users attach a Lightning cable to a MagSafe Battery Pack and then plug in the USB side to an iPad or Mac to initiate the update process.

Why can't we do this with AirPods yet?

 

[brijazz]

Updating the MagSafe Battery Pack can be done by attaching it to an iPhone and waiting (a process that can take up to a week)

Sorry, what was that?

 

[ikir]

Sorry, what was that?

Because it is quite random

 

[mapsdotapp]

Got tired of waiting so I plugged it in to my Mac. Updated to 2.7.b.0 within a minute. Thanks for clearing this up.

 

[nicolas17]

I wonder if it's "it may take up to a week for iOS to randomly decide to install the update", or "we send the firmware one bit at a time over the magsafe control channel and it really takes that long"

 

[dannyyankou]

So it was always capable of this and they held it back. It makes you wonder if it's technically capable of 15w. I think the answer is yes because if you plug a MacBook charger into the MagSafe Battery Pack while it's attached to your phone, it fast charges both.

 

[jprmercado]

Apple suggests users attach a Lightning cable to a ‌MagSafe Battery Pack‌ and then plug in the USB side to an ‌iPad‌ or Mac to initiate the update process.

Interesting! I think this is the first time Apple’s given us a way to manually initiate a firmware update for a [mainly] wireless device!

I’ve gone through the support docs for AirPods Max, and this method isn’t mentioned yet, but I wonder if doing this will also force an update… ?

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

I wonder if it's "it may take up to a week for iOS to randomly decide to install the update", or "we send the firmware one bit at a time over the magsafe control channel and it really takes that long"

More likely iOS is only programmed to search for an update once a week.
This is no different than any other of their auto updates.
iOS takes a couple weeks after a new update comes out to push it to everyone who doesn’t go in and manually do it.

 

[Fozziebear71]

I don’t understand the hate that this Apple product gets. I have one and use it all the time when I am traveling for work and I think it works very well. Increased charging speed is even better.

 

[iGeneo]

Very nice.. updated from iPad in about 2 minutes

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Wow! This is awesome. Easy as that with a simple firmware update.

 

[iGeneo]

Makes me wonder if you could indeed plug it into a iPhone with a USB-C to Lightning cable (using an adapter on on the USB-C side) and do the update? Perhaps the MagSafe speed is the issue on the "up to a week" claim?

 

[albert421]

Sorry, what was that?

My guess is. Tho people send MagSafe doesn’t support data transfer. Apple does somehow have a very very low speed way of transferring data from iPhone to the MagSafe battery pack. It is just so slow that it takes a whole week for a firmware update

 

[Benjamin Nabulsi]

Finally! it's so strange that the pack wasn't able to charge the phone while operating, only when it goes to sleep since 5w wasn't enough. more reasons to go back to iPhone mini..

 

[_Spinn_]

Very nice!

 

[The Game 161]

progress I guess

 

[alexandr]

It's too bad the MagSafe Battery Pack is not Able to Cost $59.00 After Firmware Update.

 

[Techwatcher]

Fantastic news

 

[epheterson]

Thanks for the USB -> Mac trick! That worked almost immediately.

Edit: For the record, you can use 'System Information' app on the Mac to check update status while connected. Under Hardware > USB select it, then you can refresh the output with Command + R to see if the version updates.

 

[Jdizzle188]

Has anyone updated theirs using a USB A to lightening connection? Some of us don't have USB C connections on our Mac's

 

[sorgo †]

Has anyone updated theirs using a USB A to lightening connection? Some of us don't have USB C connections on our Mac's

And some of us don’t have Macs at all (or iPads with USB-C). I have heard anecdotally of course that USB-A to Lighting should work; still, the ability to trigger a manual update on the device to which the pack is connected would be highly appreciated.

Leaving the battery pack connected to my phone overnight triggered the update last time but that wasn’t the case when I did the same last night. Seems it is simply a random, circumstantial occurrence rather than a literal week-long process.

 

[fezzzer]

I plugged the MagSafe into my Mac whilst it was attached to the phone. 10 mins, no firmware update.

Removed the battery pack from the phone, plugged back in again, attached to the phone 1 min later and it had updated. So I think the battery pack needs to be removed from the phone first.