– This is the MagSafe
charger for iPhone 12. I’ve been pretty hard on
it over my last few videos, calling out what I see as some issues. After a week of using it, is it any good? Hey, I’m Jerry. And when Apple announced the
iPhone 12 a few weeks ago, they re-introduced MagSafe in the iPhone as a circular set of magnets in the back that allow for attachments
of wireless chargers and new accessories. The idea is pretty simple, magnets in the back of the
iPhone align with magnets in the MagSafe charger to
keep the charger connected and centered on the charging coil so you don’t wake up with a dead battery. That’s the biggest issue with
regular T wireless chargers. If you do not place your
iPhone on the device directly over the charging coils in the pad, then your device will not properly charge and you wake up with a dead battery. Even vibrations for notifications have been known to move
a phone just enough so that it falls out of alignment and stops charging. Apple tried to solve this issue with the failed air power charging pad that never made it to market,
because I guess, overheating.
Xiaomi developed a pad
that automatically detects where you place your device and moves the charging coil to alignment. That’s actually pretty neat. And a number of companies have
been trying to find new ways to make wireless charging better. MagSafe is a bit of a simpler design besides having a more secure connection and proper placement via magnets, you also get the benefits
of faster wireless charging. MagSafe can give you up to
15 Watts of wireless charging versus 7 1/2 with a
standard T wireless charger. I said up to 20 Watts more
than that in a minute, so those are really the
benefits of MagSafe.
That sounds pretty good, right? Faster, more secure wireless charging. Sure. Here’s what I don’t like. Unlike a standard wireless charging pad, I need two hands to remove
the MagSafe charger. One of the benefits of wireless charging is you can just place your
phone on the charging pad and when you’re done or ready you just pick it up and walk
away without thinking about it. You can’t do that with
the MagSafe charger, the connection is easy. Just place the wireless
charging puck on a surface, put your phone over it and
it snaps on and connects, it’s that easy and it’s kind of cool, but then you need to pick
it up to disconnect it.
I know this seems like a
dumb thing to complain about but if you’re spending money
to wirelessly charge a device and you still have to do the same thing you would do with a cord that just doesn’t seem
like a benefit to me. I have gotten comments
on my channel saying that the benefit of using
MagSafe will be for gamers so that you can charge your
phone and play your game without the court getting in the way. Well, the cord is a little bit short, but let’s give it a shot. I plugged in the MagSafe to an
outlet right next to a chair and sat down to play a game. I got really into this real racing game and I played for a long time. And then I just kinda needed
to stretch because, you know, sitting for a long time
makes your butt tired.
So you gotta move every now and then. So you move forward just a little bit and the cord and charger get
ripped right out of the wall. So yeah, I think three feet is too small. Even sitting in a chair right
next to the power outlet. I was easily able to pull
this out of the socket, just adjusting my seating position. And if you wanna use this on a desk, you better make sure that your desk is right up against a power outlet. And if you have a deep
desk like this one is it still may not reach unless you put the charger way
at the far edge of the desk, but then it’s even more inconvenient because to remove your phone,
you still have to reach back with two hands to disconnect it.
So now you need to find a place to put this wireless charger. Maybe you put it in the kitchen, but then you have to stand
up if you’re gonna use it and charge at the same time or maybe you can find a dark empty hallway that just happens to have a power outlet. I guess that could work. You could just stand in the hallway but, you know, power
outlets are about this high. So unless you’re gonna be
like Dobby from Harry Potter and kind of crouching over
it, you’re gonna need a chair.
So maybe you bring in a chair. Yeah, that looks good. Yep, I can do this. I’ll just sit here and use my phone, but wait, where do I place the puck? I guess I could put it on the chair, nah, I’m gonna need a table. Yeah, that’ll work. But since I’m gonna be spending time here, I may as well get a
plant, make it look nice. Yeah. Yeah, that works. I’ve got a nice little charging station in a dark empty hallway. Now, of course, that only works if you have a dark empty
hallway with a power outlet and a stool and a table and a plant. Now, you may have noticed that I was using this anchor
USB-C charging adapter. And that’s because this $40 puck does not come with a charger.
Apple’s expecting that
you already have a charger of some kind or you shell out another $20 for Apple’s 20 watt charger. Okay. For $60, you can almost get three of these RAV Power wireless charging pads with power adapters and
spread them around your house. All right. So I know what you’re thinking, you already have a power
adapter of some kind and $40 does not seem too bad for this wireless charging puck that gets 15 Watts of
charging versus the standard 7 1/2 watt charging that you
would get with a T charger. Well, I’m sorry. The MagSafe charger will
only give you 15 watts of actual charging if you use Apple’s very specific 20
watt wireless charger, any equivalent or even
faster charging brick will drop you down to 10
watt wireless charging just 2 1/2 watts more
than a standard T charger. Okay. Let’s say you don’t care that the cord is only three foot long and you don’t care that you need two hands to
remove the charger from the phone and you have no issues paying
$60 for the MagSafe charger and the Apple 20 watt adapter. You tell me it’s all worth it because the faster charging you get compared to a standard wireless charger.
If this is the case, the MagSafe charger provides zero benefit over
a USB-C to lightning cable and a 30 watt adapter
which can charge the iPhone at 20 Watts or more. And a lightening cable comes
in the box with the iPhone, so you don’t need to spend $60
for the wireless, wireless, wireless charging pad with no benefits. So if you don’t understand
what I’m saying yet, I’m saying, do not buy
this Apple MagSafe charger. It provides zero benefit
for regular charging with maybe the exception of
playing a game on the floor next to a power outlet. I’m not saying that MagSafe is a bad idea, I think the future of MagSafe
is actually going to be great with new accessories and
third-party charging docks, car docks and whatever. And maybe they can do data
transfer at some point, and we can get some kinda iMac like dock that you connect your phone to and that turns it into a computer, I don’t know, that’s crazy. I think the future of
MagSafe is going to be fun and interesting but that’s not
what this MagSafe charger is.
But, hey, if you’re interested
in the MagSafe charger, you’re probably interested
in the iPhone 12 pro, you can get more
information on my thoughts about the camera, the performance, the design of the iPhone 12 pro in my review right over here. Hit the thumbs up if you liked it, hit subscribe if you want and I’ll see you next time..
