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iPhone 12 What problem is MagSafe solving?

thadoggfather

thadoggfather

macrumors P6
Original poster
Oct 1, 2007
16,221
17,284
I like the magnetism... and I loved MagSafe on Macs, still sorta sad to see it go... but I'm not sure I really get it exactly here when I really think about it.

I'm not a hater, I want to like it, but I'm trying to understand how it fits in with my use cases.

its 15w charging vs 7.5w, so faster than wireless charging - which I've always found to be a downside, the slowness. Unless it's on your night stand and serving as an overnight top off, in which case speed isn't that important.

It addresses being able to charge and use your phone instead of keeping it flat and unusable in a lot of situations, which I like, but lightning charging does that and always has. And without bulking up the device as well.

The magnetism is cool too, but will I have to pry it off the desk and try to keep the magnet in place any time I want to lift it off a desk? Because the lack of magnetism in wireless charging made that a plus, for general ease of use.

Also, the strength of the magnet leads me to believe it's not a fail safe for being tripped over; it will take the phone with it.

Now where I could see this having perks is serving as an iPhone stand and fast charger in the car, being propped up. But that's about it off hand
 
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ripsaw650 said:
It’s the beginning of a “port-less“ iPhone. Two years of MagSafe and the lightning port will be gone.
Click to expand...

I get that from Apple's perspective but I'm more curious about the consumer's perspective haha

Lining Apple's pockets isn't solving a problem for the user.

Also, the rumors point towards a port less model as soon as next year even.
 
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I think MagSafe is not entirely a “solution” for charging. It’s a new door for accessories that utilize the magnets, and those accessories may or may not be related to charging. Eg. The card pockets. It’s basically Apple’s first effort into making modular accessories ecosystem for the iPhone.

Remember that pogo pins that was rumored to be on the iPhone? Have a feeling that will evolve into MagSafe 2.0, that also allows data connectivity through part of the attachment. Imagine the possibilities. You can have various attachments on the iPhone without the cumbersome lightning wiring.
 
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thadoggfather said:
I get that from Apple's perspective but I'm more curious about the consumer's perspective haha

Lining Apple's pockets isn't solving a problem for the user.

Also, the rumors point towards a port less model as soon as next year even.
Click to expand...

Portless isn’t just for Apple. One of the challenges with fully waterproofing a phone is that last port. I still use wired headphones because I think airpods are too expensive, but I’d be willing to deal with it for a waterproof iPhone.
 
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Does MagSafe charge Airpods?

I want just one charger that charges everything, darn it!
 
edhchoe said:
if you have wired earphones, you can use them with the phone on MagSafe without using a splitter.
If MagSafe charger works on AW, I can have to pack only one charger for traveling. Does it work?
Click to expand...

it does not charge the watch.

edhchoe said:
Does MagSafe charge Airpods?

I want just one charger that charges everything, darn it!
Click to expand...

It does charge AirPods.
 
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ian87w said:
The pad follows the standard Qi wireless, and it will work with any Qi wireless charging devices, including the wireless charging AirPods case. You just don’t get the fast charging/magnet feature.
Click to expand...
If they come out with one that will charge AW also, next year that would be nice.
 
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ian87w said:
I think MagSafe is not entirely a “solution” for charging. It’s a new door for accessories that utilize the magnets, and those accessories may or may not be related to charging. Eg. The card pockets. It’s basically Apple’s first effort into making modular accessories ecosystem for the iPhone.

Remember that pogo pins that was rumored to be on the iPhone? Have a feeling that will evolve into MagSafe 2.0, that also allows data connectivity through part of the attachment. Imagine the possibilities. You can have various attachments on the iPhone without the cumbersome lightning wiring.
Click to expand...
I think its for accessorizing too. Charging is only part of the story.
 
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ian87w said:
I think MagSafe is not entirely a “solution” for charging. It’s a new door for accessories that utilize the magnets, and those accessories may or may not be related to charging. Eg. The card pockets. It’s basically Apple’s first effort into making modular accessories ecosystem for the iPhone.

Remember that pogo pins that was rumored to be on the iPhone? Have a feeling that will evolve into MagSafe 2.0, that also allows data connectivity through part of the attachment. Imagine the possibilities. You can have various attachments on the iPhone without the cumbersome lightning wiring.
Click to expand...
I copy my drone footage from an SD lightning adapter to my phone. And I’m sure lots of others use it for a lot of other things. How could we transfer from cards or other devices to phone without a port?
I am sure the future is port less I just don’t see how they can figure out a way for all that other data. Other than saying oh well screw you guys for data transfers.
 
Renho said:
I copy my drone footage from an SD lightning adapter to my phone. And I’m sure lots of others use it for a lot of other things. How could we transfer from cards or other devices to phone without a port?
I am sure the future is port less I just don’t see how they can figure out a way for all that other data. Other than saying oh well screw you guys for data transfers.
Click to expand...

One challenge will be CarPlay in those situations where the vehicle does not support wireless CarPlay.
 
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Renho said:
I copy my drone footage from an SD lightning adapter to my phone. And I’m sure lots of others use it for a lot of other things. How could we transfer from cards or other devices to phone without a port?
I am sure the future is port less I just don’t see how they can figure out a way for all that other data. Other than saying oh well screw you guys for data transfers.
Click to expand...
I have an ultra cheap toy drone, and I can transfer all its footage wirelessly via direct WiFi to my Android. If a cheap drone can do this, can’t believe a more advance drone can’t.
 
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Stolz25 said:
Portless isn’t just for Apple. One of the challenges with fully waterproofing a phone is that last port. I still use wired headphones because I think airpods are too expensive, but I’d be willing to deal with it for a waterproof iPhone.
Click to expand...
How will that work with speakers and microphones?
 
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So apparently the magnet isn’t strong enough to be a car mount Gruber stared in his review :/ there goes that utility

interestingly he brought up two good points: MagSafe is good for not dealing with misaligned Qi charging waking up without any extra juice and to direct orientation of the cable when using the phone at the same time for comfort purposes.

I can dig both those points
 
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