Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Other MagSafe or cable? How do you charge your iPhone?
- Thread starter dragon4ever
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Oh I get the benefit of MagSafe over Qi. I don’t understand and the benefit of MagSafe over a cable. Sure you can plop an iPhone down on a charging mat if you like, but if I plug my iPhone into a cable I can use it while it charges. It’s fine for people to use whatever they like. I guess I’ve never understood my friend’s wide-eyed enthusiasm for such a simple feature.
as I said in my earlier post, pure convenience.
There is zero technical advantage over plugging the phone one. of course some will point to that they had issues with lightning ports that started wiggling and such, and going forward we'll see similar comments with usb-c.
leave alone that the efficiency is ~ 80% with MagSafe compared to wired charging, so it's wasting energy, and yes, on an individual level it's not a whole lot, but multiply that with 100 Million users ...
Convenience. I can quickly take the phone on and off the charging dock which is something I do multiple times a day. Also, the dock doubles as a stand.
First, at night, pitch black room, you are 90% asleep, with MagSafe you simply hover your phone until the magnet snaps and then you go to sleep. One hand operation, no shoulder-twisting calisthenics, no fumbling around for a tiny little port.
Second, during the day, in your car, drop the phone in your armrest to charge, takes two seconds, start the engine, off you go. One hand operation, no shoulder-twisting calisthenics, no fumbling around for a tiny little port.
It doesn’t need to be anything more than that. It’s a major convenience.
For me MagSafe is just so convenient; I have a 3-in-1-charger at my nightstand so I don't have to mess with any cables. On the go the MagSafe charger is also very convenient as I don't have to fiddle with the port (and scratch it in the long run) and also the phone can be used just like with a regular cable.
I always use the cable. I also carry around multiple 20 K Anker battery banks to charge my phone with randomly throughout the day (I really only need one of them, but I have a few with me every day). I really like using these batteries because I can just carry them with me and charge my phone when I want to without being stuck waiting for it to charge while it’s plugged into an outlet. The battery banks charge pretty darn quickly, approximately 18 W just like the Apple outlet charger. It works for me, I’m sure it’s not for everyone.
Seems like those from Belkin might be the only Made for Magsafe? Others say the Apple tries to be smart in preventing overheating and other. Some mention the Belkin gets warm yet maybe Apple too. Maybe Apple is better maybe they're both ok and better then others that seem merely Qi with magnets for MagSafe.
I got my Belkin when I got my iPhone X so it was before MagSafe. It gets a bit warm when charging but I wouldn’t consider it hot or overheating
MS charging. Works automatically.
3 in 1 Wireless Charging... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B5XQX9P4?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
3 in 1 Wireless Charging... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B5XQX9P4?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
i got a bit of blue ink on the usb charger woven cord is there a way to make it disappear? i used soap and water/paper towel to clear it but wouldnt get off.
This sounds good to me. To be honest, my last phone was at 97% after a year using the cable exclusively so MagSafe doesn’t seem to make much of a difference if any.
Pretty much the perfect post👌🏻. I agree with everything you said - nailed it.
I've come here to find out what people think about Magsafe charging so I don't have any special knowledge, but the Watch only charges by Magsafe so logically it's designed to not be a problem.
We've had the ports on two phones damaged by cables being pulled and there's nothing much you can do after that.
Well they did come up with Magsafe, which is more efficient than just QI, because the phone is always perfectly centered. Apparently they cared more than others.
