Why you shouldn’t buy Apple’s MagSafe Battery for iPhone 12

There are times Apple takes him out of the park with his accessories. AirPods, for example, provide better experience than other bluetooth earphones. But there are times that Apple’s proprietary accessories fall short of what is available from third-party manufacturers, such as the case of Apple’s $ 99 Magnetic MagSafe Battery for iPhone 12.

How the MagSafe Battery for iPhone 12 Works

The MagSafe Battery is a rectangular battery (or power bank) that magnetically attaches to the back of the iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max. It costs $ 99. It works like any other MagSafe accessory and, as a first party battery pack, it delivers an integrated experience that no other product has. Ithis is the only battery or accessory to support reverse wireless charging, i.e. that you can charge the battery while charge the iPhone (the battery will not start to charge until your iPhone is 80% charged). The battery itself is charged using a Lightning cable.

Why the MagSafe battery is such a disappointment

If you only watch the MagSafe experience it looks pretty good, bBut the devil is in the details that Apple does not easily to bring on the product page. It starts with the ability: The MagSafe battery has a 1460 mAh, 11.13 Wh battery inside, which is tiny. In comparison, the iPhone 12 itself has a 10.78Wh battery. Also, consider this Qi wireless charging is inefficient, with quite a little capacity lost just in the process of charging. Not to mention the fact that the battery only charges the iPhone at 5W, which is enough slow down.

All of this translates to MagSafe battery in trouble to fully charge your iPhone, and even when it charges it up to 90%, that’s gonna take a hell of a long time.

What Apple has the advantage of is that they ‘use an 11 Wh battery (double the capacity of third-party batteries). This puts the actual capacity at 2920mAh, but it’s still not enough to fully charge an iPhone 12. considering the loss of power in the wireless charging process.

Certainly there is a way to quickly charge your iPhone using the MagSafe battery, but using a 20W adapter via the Lightning port (basically using the battery as a wireless charger). Oh, and it doesn’t come with an adapter or cable in the box.

The MagSafe battery also has to some of the same usage problems like the MagSafe wallet. Although the magnets are strong when attached (you can’t just shake them), a simple push is enough to dislodge the magnets, which is not good news for an accessory that will go in and out of your pockets all day long. Ultimately, when the marketing images of the MagSafe Battery Pack show a fairly elegant product, the reality is different.

VSmore compact alternatives to the MagSafe battery

Actually, MagSafe battery can only charge your iPhone up to 70-90%, according to your model, aand no fast charging. If you don’t mind using third-party alternatives, you may get better performance (like a full price), for less (sometimes less than half the price).

These batteries are only compatible with MagSafe (basically Qi wireless chargers with magnets), so they won’t have additional features like better energy efficiency of MagSafe charging, but like the MagSafe battery itself. is limited to a 5W load, you are not wasting much.

Here is some alternatives to consider:

• HyperJus ($ 39.99): This is one of the most popular and reliable magnetic batteries. It has a 5000mAh battery and supports 7.5W wireless charging (12W wired charging using a USB-C port).
• Mophie snap + mini juice pack ($ 49.99): One similar story here, also rated at 5000mAh and can fully charge an iPhone 12. There is a USB-C port to charge the battery.
• Anker PowerCore Magnetic 5K ($ 45.99): Anker’s PowerCore Magnetic 5K is another battery from a reputable manufacturer Mark. It is a package similar to that of Mophie and contains a 5000mAh battery. It is designed to fully charge the iPhone 12 mini, and it will almost fully charge the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro (95% to 97%). It will only charge the iPhone 12 Pro Max to 75%.

Why do you still want a MagSafe battery

All of that considered, you might still want to get one. It is, after all, the only true MagSafe BAterie pack on the market. It has tight integration with iOS, its battery health management features, and it is easy to use. All you have to do is hang it on your iPhone and you can forget about it. If it’s worth the asking price of $ 99, the rest of the evil details do not have Stop you.