When Apple introduced the famous AirPower, they wanted to make a wireless charging base more comfortable than those on the market, more secure, that could be trusted.
Those of you who use wireless charging bases will have lived, like me, the experience of finding in the morning that the iPhone had not charged anything. Or having to wait a while for the cell phone to sound and vibrate as we look for the point where it starts charging the cell phone. And also check after a while if it has really started charging, but without moving it lest it stop charging.
The idea of the AirPower was precisely to be able to leave the mobile phone on the base without worrying anymore, tomorrow morning the phone would be perfectly charged.
For this he tried to find a way to put a lot of coils so it could charge no matter where the phone was. The problem, apparently, was that it was technically very difficult to obtain, the coils were very hot and energy was wasted. And the energy waste part wouldn't be very good in Apple's respect for the environment, either by removing the chargers from the iPhone 12 or by building very, very efficient processors.
So what they presented to us in the keynote of 13 was precisely the AirPower, even if not as we expected it physically, but as a philosophy. They changed their minds to achieve the same goal.
With MagSafe (the name of this wireless charging) you don't have to worry, the magnets take care of centering the coil so that the charge is perfect. So you don't have to focus or worry about whether or not the phone will be charged tomorrow.
But there is even more, they have achieved a much more powerful load, 15W, much more than usual.
When Apple started with wireless charging, everyone appreciated using the Qi standard, which will allow them to be able to charge in many places and use cheap accessories from many brands. But is the Qi borne by MagSafe? In the presentation they said that the iPhone with MagSafe was compatible with Qi, not that MagSafe was Qi. Maybe they released their own charging system but kept compatibility.
We can buy it in the Apple store for € 45 (Spain).
A charger for the iPhone 12?
MagSafe isn't just for iPhone 12, you can use it for:
- iPhone 12 Pro
- iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 12mini
- iPhone 12
- iPhone 11 Pro
- iPhone 11 Pro Max
- iPhone 11
- iPhone SE (2nd generation)
- iPhone XS
- iPhone XS Max
- iPhone XR
- iPhone X
- iPhone 8
- 8 iPhone Plus
- AirPods Pro
- AirPods with Wireless Charging Case (2nd Generation)
- Wireless Charging Case for AirPods
This list may make us think that the charge is Qi. By the way, with the exception of the iPhone 12, since it has no magnets, you will have to center the device yourself, so it won't be such a «round» charger.
The name MagSafe
I don't particularly agree with this name. It is recycled from the Mac connector, even with a magnet. It was a wonderful connector that disappeared with the arrival of USB-C and that mostly saved the computer by pulling the cable.
The connector was magnetic and stuck with a magnet to the Mac. If you tripped over the cable, the connector came loose and nothing happened, and then Mag (magnetic) and Safe (save).
However, this connector offers us ease, comfort and if we want power, but it does not save the phone from falling if we trip over the cable. I think they wanted to take advantage of a name with a great reputation and they did it with a shoe horn. Maybe MagCharge or MagPower would have been better.
The iPhone without connectors
The iPhone didn't switch to USB-C as iPads are progressively doing (and Macs did years ago), they continue to use Lightning. There has also been talk for years that iPhones would end up without connectors (I think it started when the headphone jack disappeared). The data problem would be solved by Wifi, but what about the load?
Qi wireless charging was very slow. But now we have a much more powerful charge. Could this give way to an iPhone without connectors of any kind in the future?
