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treimche

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 16, 2012
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With the new MagSafe accessories starting to arrive, I am interested to see if there will be phone mounts for a vehicle that will allow the use of the MagSafe magnets without having to add additional magnets to the back of your iPhone or case. I don't really care about wireless charging in my vehicle since I have to plug it in for CarPlay to work anyway, so as long as a magnetic mount will work, I'm in.
 
This was an entire part of the announcement. Belkin MagSafe vent mount pro. I’m sure lots more will follow suit.
 
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MKBHD's video kinda covers this, not convinced the magnet strength will be enough when going over road bumps etc...
 
MKBHD's video kinda covers this, not convinced the magnet strength will be enough when going over road bumps etc...

It does raise that concern. However I have one of these iPhone cases and it seems the magnetic ring is paper thin. On the carmount there is no reason why they could not have a more powerful magnet. I believe that it is possible to do a viable car mount for mag safe. Whether or not Belkin is up to the job is a different matter. Belkin's products have been hit or miss recently.
 
I hope a reasonable mounting plate is available, not the vent thing. I would rather not have to apply a Nite Ize socket, but I probably will - likely eliminating the magnetic charging option. I appreciate having the other part of the mount near the radio in our vehicles. Good for music and GPS
 
I have never been a fan of vent mounts. 1. It blocks a vent. 2. Is the vent going to stay in place or turn downward with the weight of a phone hanging off of it?

Something I saw talked about how different accessories like chargers, wallets, and mounts could possibly have different strengths of magnets in them. Hopefully its possible to have nice strong magnets on a car mount in order to hold the iPhone in place while driving.
 
An added advantage of the small MagSafe charger is that it can be placed in a cars phone cubby, where your phone can just centrally connect to it as you place the phone in its vicinity. This would be ideal in cars with wireles CarPlay.
 
I’m hoping that MagSafe accessories can be made strong enough to safely hold a phone in a mount while driving. I miss my pitaka charger that used magnets, so nice to just slap the phone on the plate when I got into the car and grab it and go as I was leaving. I would love to be able to do that with a naked phone. And then I could take advantage of the higher wattage charging in the car.
 
Bad news: just tried my new 12 Pro in Apple case with my magnetic car mount, and no dice. The magnet bites slightly, but nowhere near enough too hold the phone up.

Somewhat disappointing if not entirely surprising. The magnet in my car mount is already incredibly strong, however, so I'm not sure how Belkin's solution will work. Time will tell, I guess.
 
Have you looked at ESR? They have a vent mount as well as a case for all new iPhones which utilise MagSafe. I have already bought two of their vent mounts and a case for my iPhone 12 pro
 
Have you looked at ESR? They have a vent mount as well as a case for all new iPhones which utilise MagSafe. I have already bought two of their vent mounts and a case for my iPhone 12 pro

Pretty sure that's not going to work, unless the vent mount is also built specifically for MagSafe, which it isn't, right?
 
Bad news: just tried my new 12 Pro in Apple case with my magnetic car mount, and no dice. The magnet bites slightly, but nowhere near enough too hold the phone up.

Somewhat disappointing if not entirely surprising. The magnet in my car mount is already incredibly strong, however, so I'm not sure how Belkin's solution will work. Time will tell, I guess.

Thanks for the report. Which Apple case and which car mount are you using?
 
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Actually it is.....


"Max output for iPhone 12: 7.5W"

That tells me that it is really just a wireless charger that is making use of the iPhone 12's magnetic capabilities. (As opposed to a MagSafe charger which would deliver the full 15w)
 
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"Max output for iPhone 12: 7.5W"

That tells me that it is really just a wireless charger that is making use of the iPhone 12's magnetic capabilities. (As opposed to a MagSafe charger which would deliver the full 15w)

That's fine given the lack of other options right now (including the mind-boggling absence of charging in Belkin's mount) and that my Scosche Magic Mount's magnet's don't line up with the MagSafe ring.

Nice find, @Jamesk811!
 
That's fine given the lack of other options right now (including the mind-boggling absence of charging in Belkin's mount) and that my Scosche Magic Mount's magnet's don't line up with the MagSafe ring.

Nice find, @Jamesk811!

Sure, I just wanted to call it out. Things are inevitably going to get confusing in these early days. Qi chargers that are using the iPhone 12's (and cases) magnets (like this vent mount appears to do) versus true MagSafe chargers that can deliver 15w.

Interesting to note that Belkin's is only a mount. No charging. I wonder if/when Apple will allow MagSafe car mounts that will provide the full 15w?
 
Anyone have any other ESR products that can speak to their quality and/or aware of any other options?

A bit concerning that their system is proprietary (HaloLock) which I guess means it’s not an official MagSafe accessory, and that they sell things like teeth cleaners

I like the new phone but not having this mission critical piece in place is throwing me off
 
I found a flat spot in my center console and used Velcro to attach a magsafe cord. It’s out of the way and if for some reason the phone comes loose it’s in a protected spot and shouldn’t shift around. I’ve got a 27w usb-c car charger on the way.
 
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I did this an age ago, not sure why it seems so new. Had to put a metal ring inside my case and voila. Worked perfectly on my iPhone X

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Have you looked at ESR? They have a vent mount as well as a case for all new iPhones which utilise MagSafe. I have already bought two of their vent mounts and a case for my iPhone 12 pro
Did you buy the HaloLock? I ordered last Saturday and still no shipping...
 
Did you buy the HaloLock? I ordered last Saturday and still no shipping...
I ordered on Friday. On Monday, the website showed the item as available for pre-order and shipping in November (neither of which were indicated when I ordered). I emailed support asking when shipping will be - I got a response saying they will check and get back to me. Hopefully not vaporware...
 
I ordered on Friday. On Monday, the website showed the item as available for pre-order and shipping in November (neither of which were indicated when I ordered). I emailed support asking when shipping will be - I got a response saying they will check and get back to me. Hopefully not vaporware...
Yea thats messed up! And meanwhile they have our $$
 
Yea thats messed up! And meanwhile they have our $$
I have an Apple Silicone Case and given how weak the magnet seems, I kind of doubt that this HaloLock system will be that secure. With my 11 Pro, I used a Scosche Magic Mount Qi with metal plates, which was generally OK (occasional falling off and connection to vent not very secure). I can't imagine this one being any stronger and would guess weaker. We'll see...
 
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