It’s MagSafe Battery Pack for iPhone 12 lineup. Yes, it’s Apple. And, yes it’s pricier. In a surprising move, without much hype, the MagSafe Battery Pack appeared on Apple’s website for pre-order. Priced at 99$, in Apple’s way, it seems a costly deal. With nothing much on Apple’s website as to what it is capable to do.
So we stripped down the cost benefit analysis to make the choice simple for you.
MagSafe Battery Pack-design and What’s in the Box
No surprises there at least. The design is clean and its white. Apple’s traditional way. Just by looking at the magasafe battery pack from distance you can get a feel that its Apple’s product. An Apple logo at back of MagSafe Battery Pack is there for you to flaunt the pricy buy.
In the box, you would only find the MagSafe Battery Pack with a simple paper for documentation purpose. No power cable or adopter, which is expected from Apple.
How it works
Apple’s new MagSafe Battery Pack would easily attach with your iPhone 12 lineup. It would charge your iPhone via a wireless charge output rate of 5W. Which is very low but understandable. While charging the MagSafe Battery Pack and simultaneously attaching it to iPhone would boost the charge rate to 15W. But the limitation is, that MagSafe has to be connected with 20W charger brick.
Moreover, iPhone 12 needs to be upgraded to iOS 14.7. The upgraded iOS will be rolled out for iPhone 12 anytime before July 22, 2021. So we will have a more educated opinion about the capabilities of Apple’s new MagSafe Battery Pack.
mAh Capacity of MagSafe Battery Pack
Apple always keeps secrets. There is no mention of battery capacity on Apple’s official website. But Apple might have revealed the capacity of the MagSafe Battery Pack in an online image of the battery pack
By looking at the image closely, it reveals the battery capacity to be 1460mAh. Which is significantly low. Rather extremely low. So could there be 2 battery packs of 1460mAH. We don’t think so. It makes no sense to write capacity of single battery if there are two. So we conclude that there aren’t two but one battery cell inside which is 1460mAh, which is very less considering the 99$ price tag.
But the catch can be, the charging rate which is mentioned next to battery capacity on the image. It states 7.62V, 11.13Wh. That suggests two things. Apple has tweaked the voltage and charging rate to be high. Even higher than. the watt per hours of iPhone 12 lineup.
Will MagSafe Battery Pack be able to fully charge iPhone 12 lineup
So considering the metrics, we assume that the battery pack might be capable to charge iPhone 12 Mini near to its full capacity, but higher models of the iPhone 12, especially the iPhone 12 Pro Max would not be charged fully. And that is the bummer, considering the MagSafe Battery pack’s 99$ price tag.
Moreover, the feature also concludes that iPhone 13 will have reverse charge and simultaneous charge capability.
Reverse charging and simultaneous charging technology
It was long rumored that iPhone 12 is capable of reverse charging technology but it was never demonstrated. With the arrival of the Battery Pack, it is now confirmed, that, iPhone 12 lineup is indeed capable of this feature. With a battery pack attached to your iPhone 12, you can charge the battery pack, provided your iPhone is connected to battery brick.
The android devices are long capable of reverse charging technology. We talked about the late arrival of features in the iPhone in our iOS vs Android article.
Moreover, if your Battery Pack is attached to power brick and connected to iPhone then you can charge your MagSafe, as well as iPhone 12 (at 15W). And this is known as simultaneous charge technology.
Do we like Apple’s MagSafe Battery Pack
The simple answer is a big ‘NO’. And we have few reasons for it
- The hefty price tag of 99$
- The capacity of the Magsafe battery pack is 1460mAh which is significantly low
- You will have to separately buy the charger and cable for the battery pack
- There are other power adapters available in the market at a low price tag
Tips for using the Magsafe Battery Pack
As per Apple support documents, following is advised
- While using the battery pack, remove other accessories, like the MagSafe wallet or cardholder.
- Your iPhone might get warm during the charge. Apple software would limit the charge to 80% if the temperature gets warmer. Try to move your phone to a cooler location.
- Use a non-leather case, as the battery pack might show signs of wear on the leather case.
- The MagSafe Battery Case uses a charge management feature to prolong the battery health of the iPhone 12, in case of prolonged use of the battery pack while connected to the power brick.
- If you have Optimized Battery Charging turned on, you’ll see a notification on the Lock screen that says when your iPhone will be fully charged. If you need to have your iPhone fully charged sooner, touch and hold the notification, then tap Charge Now
Do let us know your take on Apple’s new MagSafe Battery Pack in comments section.