Apple MagSafe Duo charger is overpriced and by-product

While there is no shipping date for this one just yet, Apple has sent review samples of its upcoming MagSafe Duo charger to reviewers. It’s a travel charger that combines Apple’s new MagSafe charging pad with an Apple Watch charger and USB-C to Lightning cable.

It costs $ 129, but that price doesn’t include a USB-C charging brick. You will need to purchase it separately and you will need to make sure that it can provide at least 20 watts of USB PD power so that it can charge your iPhone quickly. Apple sells one for $ 19.

$ 129 is $ 100 more than what I paid for a wireless charger that can charge my phone, AirPods, and Apple Watch at the same time. This charger doesn’t fold into a neat little package and can’t quickly charge an iPhone at 15 watts, but it uses USB-C instead of Lightning and has little lights to show it’s working. The regular MagSafe loading washer costs $ 39.

Apple’s MagSafe Duo charger is made of some kind of rubbery white material. It looks great when it comes out of the box, but it’s made by press molding the two sides together. This means there is a huge type of stitching around the outside which I still think is a weird design trend. (See also: Surface Keyboards and iPad Smart Keyboards.) The rubber “hinge” between the two sides also developed creases immediately.

Because the material is just a little tacky, it does an amazing job picking up any dust or dirt you might have on a table. Two minutes after taking it out of the box and taking pictures, it was dirty. The dirt he picked up has wiped off – and I hope it will be easy to clean off with just a little water or (if needed) isopropyl alcohol – but it’s still disappointing to have to do it. in the first place.

Since it folds in half, there is a little trick you can do by folding it back and just charging the iPhone. It’s nice. The Apple Watch charger lifts up so you can use it in bedside table mode as well.

If you buy the MagSafe Duo charger, you will need to teach yourself the correct way to remove the iPhone from the pad so that it does not lift up with the phone. You have to press a little on the pad because the magnets are stronger than the force of gravity on the mass of this dock.

It is a well-made object, of course. There are magnets that hold it together when bent back and forth. The watch charger hinge is firm and smooth. The weight of the whole object helps to make it more pleasing and it is somewhat satisfying to close it. This also helps ensure that the entire kit and caboodle does not vibrate off the table when you receive a phone call. I think Apple did a good job executing this design, but it’s probably not the design I would have chosen. I also think it’s not worth $ 129.

There are many great ideas built into MagSafe. I still think having a wireless charger that uses magnets to automatically align the coils for maximum efficiency is a good idea. And I think the regular MagSafe Charging Washer is a good idea for people who want to charge their iPhones while holding them.

Hope Apple and other manufacturers create many MagSafe charging accessories that enhance the experience of using multiple cables and power adapters to plug in all of our products. Hope this happens because I would hate to see anyone feel pressured into purchasing the MagSafe Duo charger.

Photograph by Dieter Bohn / The Verge