MagSafe Charger Only Charges at Full 15W Speeds With Apple's 20W Power Adapter [Updated]

[rafark]

The idea of plugging a charger into the wall, then plugging a very short cable into that charger, then connecting the end to the iPhone, and calling the whole thing "wireless", ignoring the two wires connecting the phone to the wall, seems just absurd to me

“wireless” refers to the power source not being transmitted to the phone through a wire, just like you don’t need an Ethernet cable to connect to the internet if using WiFi even though the router is still plugged to the wall. Wireless does not mean contactless. Big difference.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

As far as I can tell, if you’re using the 18 W adapter that came with the iPad Pro before and the iPhone 11 Pro series, you’re going to get extremely close to that 15 W. I’ve seen an example of someone getting 13 W, I’ve seen an example of someone getting 14 W. While I’ve never seen it hit that 15 W, it seems like even the 20 W brick only hits 15 W under very certain situations. It seems to adjust wattage by the temperature of the phone, so it will only hit 15 W when the phone is at its coolest. So either way, if you’re using the 18 or 20 W, it’s not going to change much when it comes to the actual speed of charging your phone.
and either way, if you’re using the 18 W adapter or the 20 W adapter, it’s still faster than any other traditional qi charger.

 

[HAudidoody]

Not once did I think that Apple would be selling the Magsafe charger without a wall plug, and yet, I saw this article and learned that they were. And not only that, but the performance they advertised wasn't available unless you spent another twenty dollars on a completely separate product.

This is thoroughly low behavior for Apple, and terrible product management. I keep thinking back to the people I saw in that product launch and thinking how I just didn't like them. This isn't a good sign.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Is it true the iPhone battery will be damaged if charged with the 61W USB-C Power Adapter every day?

Not damaged, but the faster you charge a battery, the quicker it will degrade under normal circumstances.
One of the main reasons Apple for the longest time included those tiny 5 W adapters with their phones instead of upgrading them to fast chargers is because of battery health. Those tiny bricks might have charged your phone extremely slowly, but in the long run it was better for battery health.
I owned an iPhone XR from October 2018 until September 2019. I used the 5 W adapter. I charged the phone every single day. It got down to 96% battery health.
I upgraded to the iPhone 11, and I bought an 18 W adapter with it. I charged it every single day. I upgraded to the 12 last week, and my 11 on the last day that I had it was all the way down to 83% battery health.
The faster you charge a battery, the hotter the phone gets, and the worst for battery health that it is. Wireless charging is somewhere in the middle. There isn’t enough research done on it, but some people say that it’s worse for battery health because of the heat, and some other people say it has absolutely no effect on battery health.
if you’re worried about battery health, here are some tips.
turn on optimize battery charging.
only use high wattage adapters when necessary.
only charge your phone up to 100% when necessary.
only let your phone die all the way to 0% when it’s unavoidable.
try to keep your battery between 20% and 80% as often as possible. Constant 0 to 100, 100 to 0, 0 back to 100, 100 back down to 0% cycles are absolutely terrible for battery health.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Not once did I think that Apple would be selling the Magsafe charger without a wall plug, and yet, I saw this article and learned that they were. And not only that, but the performance they advertised wasn't available unless you spent another twenty dollars on a completely separate product.

This is thoroughly low behavior for Apple, and terrible product management. I keep thinking back to the people I saw in that product launch and thinking how I just didn't like them. This isn't a good sign.

Not really. Every single Qi charger I’ve seen in the stores has not come with a brick. None of them do. this is pretty normal behavior

 

[kstotlani]

You should also do the match in the power loss while using wireless chargers. If Apple was so worried about the environment they would have never supported Qi charging. You have to add up all phones sold and assume a certain number are charged daily on wireless charger. The power loss because of thermal inefficiency would be huge considering the numbers you have put up. So is this Apple caring about the environment.

Apple holds on to software enhancements and doesn’t apply to old phones. E.g. night mode could have been applied for XS Max but Apple forced a hardware upgrade for this feature. This might not be a big number but it still is a number.

So this convenient claim of caring about the environment is just that - convenience if it doesn’t affect business. In the case of chargers it’s purely greed or just simply not well thought out. We have never accused Apple of the latter.

1. USB C chargers were never the norm and the box has a USB C cable so most “generic” people have to go buy a charger anyway.

2. If Apple cared about the environment they would have adopted USBC and ditched lightning. At least people who own the iPad Pro and future users would have impacted the environment in a positive way.

3. Apple could make their lightning cable stronger. They don’t last long unless you have an OCD of maintaining them properly. I have used mine for 2 years because I am careful but I know people use 2 in a single year because it breaks if not handled properly.

4. Isn’t the box still wrapped in plastic? Apple still provides you plastic bags to carry their products out. Why not jute or paper? How many millions of products are sold? Run these numbers too.

I can go on and on but hopefully you get the drift. There is no reason to shout from a solar roof top that we care about the environment when you can improve a lot of other things other than removing a charger which has caused more issues.

I am actually an Apple fan but still very realistic because corporate greed is not lost on me. And for those who say that I should vote with my wallet, I did because I am going to hold on to my XS Max another year or even longer. And for those who want me to leave Apple ecosystem can gth. This is my opinion and has nothing to do with you being a sheep.

Sorry I actually do find it laughable - not at Apple but at the idea that this is about profits.

Nokia was and has been notorious for selling accessories for phones - in fact they probably MADE it a profitable venture for any manufacture before anyone else figured it out. Sometimes using the same batteries for phones to be swapped out (smartphones included) yet many many times even if 2 or more of their phones shared the same battery the charging plug (and interface to the phone) differed thus creating a huge need to buy ... you guessed it chargers.

THE worlds BEST SELLING phones annually are:

Nokia 1100 and Nokia 1110 (candy bar basic phones) released 2003 and 2005; each selling 250 Million phones ! They included a charger. Imagine how many chargers they still sold in that time! And they, Nokia made MORE phone models than ANY manufacturer in complete phone history!

Apple's iPhone 6 and 6 plus sold 222.4 million (together) not separately!

Have a look at the facts - of just phones sold in total quantity globally:

List of best-selling mobile phones - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Of those phones, the top 15 best selling phones in history ... Nokia sold the top 12!
Total devices of those top 15 sold by Nokia ... 2.051 Billion phones since 2010! This is just going back 10yrs ... and Nokia accomplished this in just 5yrs!

Now ... figure out the math of just 10% of those users buying a secondary charger (1 for work/travel & 1 for home) at say $10/charger - I recall chargers from Nokia back in 2010 being worth a LOT more in USA/CAN dollars. Now you'd be talking about profits!

So until Apple reaches close to those numbers ... then you're talking hyperbole.

BTW the next best selling iPhone was #16 on that list and combined sales of iPhone 8 and 8Plus at 86.3 million devices. Since the iPhone 5 many iPhone users already had several Lightning cables with USB-A charging blocks. I'm sure many still have quite capable USB-A blocks or USB-C charging blocks to use cables with, not such a high percentage would NEED to buy a charging block or MagSafe charging connection.

 

[AdonisSMU]

Why is it a scam? Many use only wireless charging.

Wireless charging is harder on the battery life and doesn’t charge nearly as quickly. Lets start there. Additionally, given this information even the most fervent Apple fanboys abandoned wireless charging after the first couple of weeks.

 

[mackinmike]

Am I the only one that denies those Apple bags that you get when you order stuff for pickup at the Apple Store?

I'd gladly choose a box-less option if there was one. But <shrug> there isn't.

Or just include these items in the phone box. Boom. Mic drop. But seriously I dont get their bags.. my fiance wouldn't allow it either... heck she carries a metal straw with her and refuses the plastic ones.

 

[I7guy]

You should also do the match in the power loss while using wireless chargers. If Apple was so worried about the environment they would have never supported Qi charging. You have to add up all phones sold and assume a certain number are charged daily on wireless charger. The power loss because of thermal inefficiency would be huge considering the numbers you have put up. So is this Apple caring about the environment.

Caring about the environment is not as binary as the above makes it out to be.

Apple holds on to software enhancements and doesn’t apply to old phones. E.g. night mode could have been applied for XS Max but Apple forced a hardware upgrade for this feature. This might not be a big number but it still is a number.

You’re right. But there could be a technical reason.

So this convenient claim of caring about the environment is just that - convenience if it doesn’t affect business. In the case of chargers it’s purely greed or just simply not well thought out. We have never accused Apple of the latter.

If you go the math. Let’s say apple sells 80m phones. 80m chargers and pods not shipped. Less packaging, less weight, less carbon footprint. Seems like a win-win-win.

1. USB C chargers were never the norm and the box has a USB C cable so most “generic” people have to go buy a charger anyway.

I think most people can use what they have.

2. If Apple cared about the environment they would have adopted USBC and ditched lightning. At least people who own the iPad Pro and future users would have impacted the environment in a positive way.

Well that makes sense environmentally. Throw away all lightning cables over the last ten years.

3. Apple could make their lightning cable stronger. They don’t last long unless you have an OCD of maintaining them properly. I have used mine for 2 years because I am careful but I know people use 2 in a single year because it breaks if not handled properly.

I’ve never had a lightning cable go bad since 2013. Any cable can be abused enough to break it.

4. Isn’t the box still wrapped in plastic? Apple still provides you plastic bags to carry their products out. Why not jute or paper? How many millions of products are sold? Run these numbers too.

The product and contents of the box needs protection from storage and shipping. Being environmentally sound and moving in that direction is not binary.

I can go on and on but hopefully you get the drift. There is no reason to shout from a solar roof top that we care about the environment when you can improve a lot of other things other than removing a charger which has caused more issues.

Much of what is written , imo, is hyperbole.

I am actually an Apple fan but still very realistic because corporate greed is not lost on me. And for those who say that I should vote with my wallet, I did because I am going to hold on to my XS Max another year or even longer. And for those who want me to leave Apple ecosystem can gth. This is my opinion and has nothing to do with you being a sheep.

Companies can make a profit and still work toward being green. Taking small steps, especially a company that operates on apples scale.

 

[Apleeseed84]

Am i still the only one having issues with the magsafe charger combo? i can’t get more than 4w to output from this, i have a genius bar appointment later on today, but i feel like the magnets are is interfering with how much wattage is being transferred to the phone, but no matter what i do or how i do it, i cannot get more than 1-3watts

 

[dannyyankou]

No one told anyone to run out and get anything, once u realize that then maybe you will stop complaining.
Where does it say you have to buy MagSafe?
You are the liar.

You don't have to buy MagSafe, but you have to buy a new USB adapter, which many people don't have, to plug in the included USB-C cable.

 

[SWAON]

TYPICAL APPLE. They don't miss a good chance to show their real colors.

 

[incoherent_1]

• Apple removed the charger from the box
• Apple claims this was all for environmental reasons
• Apple did not drop the price to match the cost savings to Apple
• Apple introduces MagSafe wireless charging
• Apple ensures MagSafe only works full speed if you run out and buy its new, specific charger
• Apple is a lying liar.

Exactly! And let’s not forget: - MagSafe charging (like any non-wired charging) is extremely energy inefficient and DEFINITELY wastes far more energy in the life of the product than they saved by excluding a charger from the box.

 

[simonmet]

Deleted

 

[Ruggy]

At first sight it's quite shocking and looks like a rip-off but I think the key is in the comment that they are using aggressive temperature control.

The charger phone combo does a lot more than deliver a steady charge. They are smart and adjust according to feedback over the amount of charge resistance, temperature maybe something else.

That's why there's such variety over different chargers otherwise they would all be exactly the same unless Apple is deliberately slowing them all down but to a different extent which would be extremely unlikely.

So their latest charger works best with the latest phone as it best communicates and provides the maximum charge without heating the battery more than necessary prolonging its life. So all good so far.

But it is therefore extremely mean of them not to provide the charger with the phone for whatever reason especially as the Magsafe lead is really over-priced at $39.

They sell a top rated phone and the charging is one of it's new features but you can't get that straight out of the box unless you've become an expert on their product and are prepared to pay more.
It's not the ethos I'm looking for.

 

[Wanted797]

Remember guys Apple isn’t making you buy the MagSafe charger.

 

[Taz Mangus]

You don't have to buy MagSafe, but you have to buy a new USB adapter, which many people don't have, to plug in the included USB-C cable.

I don’t have to buy a new charger as I can just use my current lightning cable and 5w charger. Sure it charges really slowly but maybe that is better for the battery longevity for the iPhone 12. Apple is correct that people already have a charger that can be used. Whether someone chooses to use their exiting charger or go out and buy a new 20w charger is their choice. Apple isn’t forcing anyone to buy the 20w charger.

 

[dannyyankou]

I don’t have to buy a new charger as I can just use my current lightning cable and 5w charger. Sure it charges really slowly but maybe that is better for the battery longevity for the iPhone 12. Apple is correct that people already have a charger that can be used. Whether someone chooses to use their exiting charger or go out and buy a new 20w charger is their choice. Apple isn’t forcing anyone to buy the 20w charger.

Not if it’s your first iPhone, or if someone switched to android after iPhone 4s and didn’t switch back until now.

 

[slplss]

Is there anything positive about this product?

Magnets! ...

 

[hunapu]

I should think that any 9V charger that can deliver 2A or above, should be able to charge with 15W.
An old (max 5V) charger wont work of course, if the Magsafe is 9V

 

[loekf]

than 20W were not able to exceed 10W when used with the MagSafe Charger. Below are the results from Zollo's tests:

• Apple's 20W Power Adapter - 15W
  
• Apple's 18W Power Adapter - 13W
  
• Apple's 96W MacBook Pro Power Adapter - 10W
  
• Anker 30W PowerPort Atom PD 1 = 7.5W to 10W
  
• Aukey 65W Power Adapter - 8W to 9W
  
• Pixel 4/5 Charger - 7.5W to 9W
  
• Note 20 Ultra Charger - 6W to 7W

Just looking at wattage is nonsense. You have to look at the time it takes to reach a certain battery level.

From a Dutch site:

iCulture oplaadtest: zo lang duurt opladen van de iPhone 12 met verschillende adapters

We hebben verschillende opladers getest voor de iPhone 12: MagSafe, snelladen, en adapters van 5W, 18W en 20W. Welke gaat het snelst?

www.iculture.nl

MagSafe	18 Watt	27%
MagSafe	20 Watt	32%
MagSafe aangesloten op USB-C van MacBook*	Onbekend, ca. 10-12 Watt?	30% (nieuw!)

So we're talking about a few percentage. Is that so bad ?

Again, your old 18W charger does the job fine.

Still I think the Magsafe charger is a joke, if you also take the thermal issues into account.

 

[Taz Mangus]

Not if it’s your first iPhone, or if someone switched to android after iPhone 4s and didn’t switch back until now.

That is true. But that will be a smaller portion of people that need to do that vs. including a new charger with every iPhone 12 model sold. Once those people purchase the charger then they won't need to do so unless they choose to do so. And that is the point that Apple is trying to make.

 

[ani4ani]

Well unless you have an iPhone 12 it’s not going to perform anything like a standard Qi charger and given the cable is 3ft long, I’m not sure how well you will be able to use it while charging

@17Guy

you literally downvote every point or disagree with every post that criticises Apple. The above another example. Would you explain why you disagree with the point made?

The puck is smaller than a standard Qi charger so the issue of finding the sweet spot is even harder than a standard Qi charger. We know with other iPhones it doesn’t charge at 7.5W. The cable is 3ft long so please advise how practically you use your phone when it is when charging, the length issue compounded further when used with anything but an iPhone 12, given it’s not “clamped on” even if the length wasn’t an issue?

 

[LegCortex]

It "does just work". However, the product has been out for a short-time with not a lot of guidance from Apple on how the product works. Can't blame them for designing products that work better within their own ecoystem. As for overpriced and underpowered, that is an opinion (I get it it's yours). And you are using AirPower as a benchmark? Several years later, nobody else was able to do that either, so yeah there maybe some limitations when it comes to inductive charging. Which my electric toothbrushes in the 60s did and 60 years later, the same physics are a roadblock.

The physics are definitely a roadblock. They probably should have just reconsidered it à la AirPower. I’m not sure the trade-offs are worth the “convenience.”

 

[ksec]

Can MR do some fact finding journalism here.

- It is proprietary to Apple chargers, if so why?
- Is it to do with PD standards?
- Does the charger have to be exactly 9V-2.2a compliant?
- Something else.

Everything else on this thread is unfortunately conjecture and guesswork.
We need the actual facts.

That is "the" problem in today's world. Everyone is doing "Reporting", there is relatively very little Fact Checking, Investigation etc into these stories.

And tomorrow we have new "Reporting".