Apple MagSafe Battery Pack review: convenience over capacity – The Verge

Apple ’ s newly MagSafe Battery Pack is a white rectangle you can stick to the back of an iPhone 12 to charge it. It ’ second Apple ’ s third play at designing an external barrage solution for the iPhone and I like it better than the earlier battery cases .
however, anybody considering spending $ 99 on this battery ought to keep one crucial fact in beware : even Apple can not break the laws of physics. It is just as bound by the same rules of magnetism and electrons as everybody else .
Those laws require tradeoffs : A battery that could fully charge up most iPhone 12 models would be big. A battery belittled adequate to not look curious on a earphone wouldn ’ triiodothyronine have enough juice. Plus, electrons can only flow indeed debauched without building up hotness and degrading the battery .
Apple can ’ metric ton frustration the laws of physics

Apple found a libra between all those extremes and it maintains that balance with a taut software integration that aggressively manages how this battery charges your call. The solution is a appliance that ’ s singularly focused on the iPhone — sometimes to its own detriment .
The best separate about the MagSafe Battery is that it besides serves as a fast-charging radio MagSafe puck when it ’ s plugged in. So the big wonder is whether all that is adequate to justify the price, specially compared to the rival .

Our review of
Apple MagSafe Battery Pack

Verge Score

7

out of 10

Good Stuff

  • Works great as a wired MagSafe charger
  • Well integrated with iPhone software
  • Can also charge other Qi devices like AirPods

Bad Stuff

  • Doesn’t provide a full charge for any iPhone 12 model
  • Lightning connector isn’t versatile
  • Expensive

Buy for $99.00 from Apple
The MagSafe Battery doesn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate have enough energy to in full charge an iPhone 12 Mini from zero to 100 percentage .
In my test, the MagSafe Battery was in full drained when my iPhone 12 Mini reached 83 percentage, which took 130 minutes of charging. I didn ’ t have it plugged in for this quiz, which meant it charged at a relatively dilatory 5W speed, therefore as to minimize estrus and maximize the battery ’ mho longevity .
I used the iPhone very sporadically during the charging period ( largely to record the results every 15 minutes ), though I did listen to a 15-minute podcast over Bluetooth which slowed the charging down a bite .
bottom line : it ’ s a small battery and it will help you top up your iPhone, not amply charge it. On larger iPhone 12 models, it won ’ t even hit that 83 percentage .
It performs better than its 1,460mAh rating would suggest

The screen that appears when you attach the MagSafe Battery


The MagSafe Battery Pack on an iPhone 12 Pro Max

There is a discussion to have about what the right direction to talk about battery size is. The MagSafe Battery only has a 1,460mAh barrage, but that number international relations and security network ’ metric ton comparable to other batteries because it can push through more volts ( 7.62V ). So the MagSafe Battery ’ s rated 11.13Wh ( Watt-hours ) is the number that actually matters. meanwhile, Anker makes a 5,000mAh battery with radio receiver charging and magnets for under $ 50. It ’ mho rated at 18.5Wh, so the differences are smaller than they foremost appear .
The battery measurement discussion is interest, but it doesn ’ thymine change the fact that the MagSafe Battery is just small. It ’ randomness mean to be pocket-size and easy to carry, and so you should think of it as something that can stretch your battery life merely a little — not get you through multiple days away from a charger .
As you might expect, the software experience with the MagSafe Battery is tightly integrated into the iPhone. There are big animations that show the appoint of both your call and the battery when you attach it. It shows up on the battery level appliance, excessively.

More interestingly, when you first attach the battery, your iPhone will pop up a notice that this battery won ’ thymine charge your telephone above 90 percentage — by design. Those last few percentage points put a lot of stress on batteries, and in this context it ’ mho just not worth it. I think it ’ s a smart move, but if you absolutely want that last 10 percentage, you can long press the battery icon in the Control Center and tell it to charge past 90 percentage .

An Anker battery next to the MagSafe Battery


The Anker battery is a bit larger, but it also has a larger battery inside.

I know this sounds both complicated and disappointing, but in use it ’ s actually the opposite. I would equitable slap the battery on the rear of my earphone when I was worried about barrage life and didn ’ t sweat the details. The result was not needing to keep an eye on battery liveliness ampere much as I normally do. It ’ second elegant rather of brawny .
That ’ s all smart, but it entirely happens with the iPhone. It is surely a courteous overall experience than you ’ vitamin d catch with the Anker battery, which is thick to bang. But the Anker has other advantages. Its battery is bigger, for one thing. It besides has a USB-C port on it that both takes charge when plugged in and can be used to charge devices via a wire. It ’ mho less elegant for iPhone users, but it ’ sulfur much more versatile .
The Lightning port on the penetrate of the MagSafe Battery means iPhone users can keep using the same charge cable, so it ’ s probably the right call to keep it. It ’ mho just excessively bad that Lightning can ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate charge in either commission like a USB-C port can .

The Apple MagSafe Battery Pack nearly perfectly fits the iPhone 12 Mini

The MagSafe Battery is designed to match the dimensions of the iPhone 12 Mini absolutely. It aligns precisely to the edges and is more comfortable to hold than I expected. If you have a larger iPhone, it will sit on the back a bite more awkwardly — it looks positively bantam on the iPhone 12 Pro Max .
Every battery pack looks silly attached to a phone

The MagSafe Battery Pack looks a little funny on an iPhone 12 Pro Max

I polled Twitter for questions about the battery and I was taken aback by the vitriol I saw in my replies — and elsewhere. It ’ sulfur easy to make playfulness of how a battery pack looks on the back of a phone. It ’ sulfur besides easily to go after it for not providing enough commission. Having used it, I ’ m not sure I ’ d want it any larger and I surely wouldn ’ t want it any smaller. To me, there ’ s no such thing as a fine-looking external battery. At the end of the day, they ’ re all squarish or oblong hunks of fictile or metallic element .
The white plastic has a matte stopping point that helps a short with clasp, but I wouldn ’ t call it soft touch. I do wonder if it ’ ll pick up stains from blue jeans over time, but in the few days I ’ ve been testing it, it ’ s remained clean .
It snaps on the back of a caseless iPhone with a satisfying notch. It ’ s angstrom guarantee as I think can be fairly expected from something connected with magnets. It ’ five hundred be decent if the alliance magnet was a short stronger, but I am beaming that my iPhone doesn ’ metric ton control magnets so impregnable that it messes with credit cards. Physics !
You can intentionally shake off the battery or have it slip off when putting it in your pocket, but I didn ’ t have those problems. however, if you are planning on using it with a lawsuit, you absolutely need a MagSafe compatible case that itself has magnets on it. I use a very sparse fictile case and that minimal layer was more than enough to stop the magnets from working efficaciously .

The MagSafe Battery Pack shows how much charge it has left in an iPhone widget

After two days testing a couple different MagSafe Batteries on both an iPhone 12 Mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max, I came to a storm stopping point. My darling part international relations and security network ’ t the barrage, it ’ s the MagSafe charger .
When I think of the MagSafe Battery as a MagSafe charging puck that just happens to have a battery attached to it, I think it makes a little more sense as a intersection. Apple ’ s MagSafe puck costs $ 40 — that surely doesn ’ t make the $ 99 asking monetary value for this battery a cover, but it might be worth buying the barrage alternatively of the puck for some people .
I do have to point out that for $ 99 I would have expected Apple to at least include a Lightning cable. It doesn ’ metric ton, nor does it include a charging brick .
When plugged into a potent enough wall charger, the MagSafe Battery can charge the earphone at up to 15W, just like the standard MagSafe phonograph record. The charger can fill up both itself and your iPhone. If you want to prioritize charging speed on the iPhone, you can plug it in rather and then the iPhone will use reverse wireless charging to top up the barrage. ( unfortunately and unlike Android phones, the iPhone ’ second overrule radio charging doesn ’ thymine ferment for other devices, like AirPods. )

The MagSafe Battery Pack can also wirelessly charge AirPods

The MagSafe Battery ’ randomness best feature of speech is that it is a adept MagSafe radio receiver charger. It ’ second besides a becoming battery — but merely if you think of it as a humble extender, one that trades longevity for size. Do I wish it had more capacity ? Of course. I besides wish it could have more capacity without getting any larger than it already is. I don ’ metric ton begrudge physics and I get why Apple chose the size it did .
But paying $ 99 for all the MagSafe Battery ’ s elegance and integration doesn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate make common sense when there are much cheaper options that are less behold to working with just one earphone. A battery throng is going to look airheaded no matter what, you might ampere well get one that ’ sulfur equally versatile as possible.

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