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Twelve South Launches 'ButterFly' 2-in-1 MagSafe Charger for iPhone and Apple Watch

mnsportsgeek said:
The prices are insane but that seems to be where the market has settled.
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Actually, for this one, I'm not as upset at the price for a few reasons:
  • It has real MagSafe. I've seen many overpriced brands that use 7.5W Qi with magnets. Gross.
  • It has real Apple Watch fast charging
  • It is actually compact unlike a lot of "travel" wireless chargers I've seen
  • The Apple Watch bit flips up which is nice
  • The cable is included, braided, and removable, so you can use it to charge an iPad or even trickle charge a MBP at 30W
  • It actually has a nice design aesthetic without compromising anything
  • It actually includes the 30W USB-C charger, unlike a lot of brands
  • It includes adapters for different countries and a travel bag to hold them, which is useful when traveling abroad
Or, to break it down this way, if you bought from Apple:
  • MagSafe: $39
  • Apple Watch fast charging cable: $29
  • 35W Dual USB-C Port Power Adapter: $59
  • Apple World Travel Adapter Kit: $29
Total: $156 for a clunkier solution

From what I've seen, unless Qi2 15W wireless charging is supported on the iPhone (which will happen soon, although wattage is unknown, may be limited to 7.5W), then you pretty much have to go with Apple's MagSafe if you want fast charging. Say you get that on sale, like I did for Black Friday, at $29, and the AW Fast Charger on sale for $27 like I did on BF, and an Anker two port USB-C on sale like I did for $21 for BF (I was building another 3D printed stand which turned out quite well printed at high detail in black), and you pickup some generic World adapter kit for $15. That's still $92 for a clunky, cobbled together travel solution. So honestly, all things considered for the nice design, compact form factor, and simple operation, this isn't bad for $129. I will probably pick up one when they inevitably go on sale for $99-109 next November.
 
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The Anker Cube is (imho) the perfect nightstand charger: small, fast, multipurpose, seemingly very well made. It positions the iPhone ideally for standby mode. It's dense, heavy. I can't imagine using it for travel.

This device, if you only want to charge two products at a time, or the various three-in-one chargers that fold compactly via variously euphemistically-named synthetic materials and include magsafe and fast charging, often for a fraction of this price are what you want for travel. The several I've bought and used have worked flawlessly.
 
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Seems pretty slick. But with being a few years from retirement and a few more after from death, its hard to justify.
 
randolorian said:
The price isn't too bad when you consider it includes a cable, 20W power adapter, and 4 international plug adapters. The Apple MagSafe Duo is the same price and includes only a cable.
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That's whats the craziest thing about this is, that that is actually still a ridiculous price. Apples was ludicrous, this is just ridiculous. I was willing to pay $50 for Apples thing, I guess I'd pay $70 or something for this, but honestly I don't need a cable or charger, just give me the shell for $50 and I'd probably get one.
 
toobravetosave said:
what is with the price of these kinds of products jeez
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I think a lot of the problem is that they just cannot get the volume that would allow the price to come down. This is a third-party seller and they are selling a rather niche product. It just is unlikely to reach high enough production numbers to get down to a more appealing price.

Maybe they could get enough volume if they dropped the price but maybe not. They seem to have calculate "not". If they miscalculate they could lose a lot of money. It's a tough market.
 
iamdmann said:
In that case it seems interesting...still not sure I'd opt for it over the anker cube, but the smaller form factor and lighter weight could be worth one fewer charging surface. Thanks for the info!
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For a travel device, the Twelve South charger is much more compact that that weird Anker device. If it is just another device on your desk that you don't take anywhere then it doesn't matter.
 
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The outer shell being rounded and aluminum makes this look nice when folded, but I suspect it’s not a great design in actual use: it will slide around too easily on a nightstand (probably scratching the aluminum as it goes, although the clear anodization will help disguise the marks for a while) and detaching the phone will be annoying even using both hands.
 
mnsportsgeek said:
Twelve South is killing it with these chargers. The 3 in 1 deluxe is the best charger on the market, and this looks to be the ultimate travel solution.

The prices are insane but that seems to be where the market has settled.
Click to expand...

Had to return the 3-in-1 Deluxe charger because the base wasn't heavy enough to stay in place when I was removing the phone from the charger. I loved the design a lot, but the experience of using it was quite disappointing.
 
frame309 said:
Had to return the 3-in-1 Deluxe charger because the base wasn't heavy enough to stay in place when I was removing the phone from the charger. I loved the design a lot, but the experience of using it was quite disappointing.
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I just slide it to the side to break the magnetic hold before pulling it off. Same way I get a standard MagSafe charger off.
 
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This will be a must-buy for frequent travelers when its on sale for $89.99 in a few months.
 
jrlcopy said:
Qi2 is all MagSafe going forward, Apple got the standard to include magnets.
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And Apple will get part of the royalty from Qi2.....which won't launch for a few years and Apple has had MagSafe since the iPhone 12, THREE YEARS AGO....

Are you living in the past with Google??

First RCS, which is already obsolete, and they don't have a real messaging app, which is why they're insanely desperate to get out of their green bubble as 85% of Gen Z wants an iPhone.
 
I just got it. It’s ok. I love my Duo, which has its short comings but is still the only nighttime charger I use. Compared to the Duo it has a smaller footprint but the Duo is so slim so don’t let that be a factor. The AW puck is not easy to get out vs Duo where you push from the back. I’m excited to really test out the fast charging on AWU, which is the primary reason why I got the Butterfly. Cable and charger is nice but im not gonna use them so it’s a non-factor for me.

EDIT: I’ve had the Duo for a year and it’s worked great. It’s still mostly white hahah
 
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Rorosbutt said:
I just got it. It’s ok. I love my Duo, which has its short comings but is still the only nighttime charger I use. Compared to the Duo it has a smaller footprint but the Duo is so slim so don’t let that be a factor. The AW puck is not easy to get out vs Duo where you push from the back. I’m excited to really test out the fast charging on AWU, which is the primary reason why I got the Butterfly. Cable and charger is nice but im not gonna use them so it’s a non-factor for me.

EDIT: I’ve had the Duo for a year and it’s worked great. It’s still mostly white hahah
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Is the charger that came with it 20W or 30W? (Apple says 20W charger included while TwelveSouth says 30W charger included.)
 
Rorosbutt said:
I just got it. It’s ok. I love my Duo, which has its short comings but is still the only nighttime charger I use. Compared to the Duo it has a smaller footprint but the Duo is so slim so don’t let that be a factor. The AW puck is not easy to get out vs Duo where you push from the back. I’m excited to really test out the fast charging on AWU, which is the primary reason why I got the Butterfly. Cable and charger is nice but im not gonna use them so it’s a non-factor for me.

EDIT: I’ve had the Duo for a year and it’s worked great. It’s still mostly white hahah
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Can you post some pics if you have a chance... And also can you confirm if the included charger is 20w or 30w? For some reason all the apple stores near me are showing a pickup date of Jan 22nd so I didn't think it was available yet.
 
bigjnyc said:
Can you post some pics if you have a chance... And also can you confirm if the included charger is 20w or 30w? For some reason all the apple stores near me are showing a pickup date of Jan 22nd so I didn't think it was available yet.
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Mine will arrive today to my US home, unfortunately I won't be there until tomorrow evening.

If you haven't had pics yet, I'll post then
 
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iGeneo said:
Mine will arrive today to my US home, unfortunately I won't be there until tomorrow evening.

If you haven't had pics yet, I'll post then
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where did you order it from? On twelvesouth's site they are only taking pre-orders and on Apple.com it says ships in 4-6 weeks and earliest in store pick up is Jan 24th.
 
bigjnyc said:
Can you post some pics if you have a chance... And also can you confirm if the included charger is 20w or 30w? For some reason all the apple stores near me are showing a pickup date of Jan 22nd so I didn't think it was available yet.
Click to expand...
It’s 30W with beaded cable and all the adaptors for the world.

Here’s some pics, not the best pics but enough to compare. It’s not really as small as it looks vs Duo. It does fast charge the AWU, actually hits 6W at times….
 

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