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I’m usually an early adopter, however not all the time. Apple debuted wi-fi charging with the iPhone 8 in 2019 utilizing the Qi commonplace (see “How I Realized to Cease Worrying and Love Wi-fi Charging,” 10 June 2019), and in 2020, the corporate launched the MagSafe charging expertise with the iPhone 12 (see “MagSafe Is Cool, however Is It Definitely worth the Commerce-Offs?,” 6 November 2020). I’ve had a Qi- or MagSafe-compatible iPhone your entire time, however after Tonya gave me a beautiful picket Qi charger as a present that didn’t work in any respect, I caught with cables, first Lightning after which USB-C with the iPhone 15 Professional.
It was no nice hardship to plug in a cable, and the annoyances had been minor. They included having to scrub pocket lint out of the port with a toothpick, worrying about damaging the port after I inadvertently knocked the plugged-in iPhone off the bedside desk, and the cable finally fraying and needing to get replaced.
My preliminary curiosity in MagSafe got here from wanting a thinner pockets case for my iPhone 15 Professional. The Smartish Pockets Slayer Vol. 1 case I used with the iPhone 14 Professional nonetheless labored, nevertheless it meant conserving my playing cards with me always, though they’re solely obligatory after I go away the home and I spend most of my time at residence. Would I favor the iPhone to be slimmer and lighter more often than not at the price of including a MagSafe pockets after I left the home?
I used to be additionally intrigued to strive two software program adjustments within the Apple ecosystem. First, I wished to see if Continuity Digital camera with my iPhone would supply considerably higher video high quality than the built-in FaceTime HD webcam on my 27-inch iMac. Second, StandBy appeared like a enjoyable method to flip my iPhone right into a miniature image body on my desk. (StandBy can be a welcome addition to iPadOS in that regard.) I didn’t initially anticipate StandBy being useful within the bed room.
Neither Continuity Digital camera nor StandBy requires MagSafe. For Continuity Digital camera, you desire a mount to place the iPhone at roughly eye degree so the folks you’re speaking to really feel such as you’re them, nevertheless it doesn’t should be MagSafe. Though Continuity Digital camera can drain your battery pretty rapidly, you may simply run a charging cable from the Mac to the iPhone. StandBy requires that the iPhone be locked, charging, and in panorama orientation, however that’s additionally achievable with a cable and plenty of stands.
Nevertheless, MagSafe makes the whole lot so much simpler. Plugging and unplugging cables, significantly in hard-to-reach spots like behind your monitor or at evening within the bed room, could be annoying, and it’s all too straightforward to drop the iPhone or have the cable pulled awkwardly. With MagSafe, you slap the iPhone on the mount, and it sticks within the right place and begins charging.
MagSafe Pockets Case: Smartish Gripmunk and Aspect Hustle
My first buy was a Smartish Gripmunk case with the Aspect Hustle MagSafe pockets. I’m keen on Smartish’s circumstances as a result of I like customizing them with nonetheless photographs culled from the Electrical Sheep screensaver. Though Smartish’s circumstances are inexpensive if you happen to purchase the default designs, customizing them bumped the worth to $39.99 for the Gripmunk and $34.99 for the Aspect Hustle. $75 was a bit pricier than I wished, however I like my sheep.
From the MagSafe perspective, the Gripmunk case has been successful. Connecting it to any of the MagSafe chargers and mounts I’ve ended up with works properly, and it appears no much less solidly related than if I had no case. (Though I’m removed from clumsy, I’ve dropped iPhones onto exhausting surfaces too usually to contemplate going caseless—Joanna Stern’s drop assessments present that circumstances do assist.)
I’m much less enthused about how the MagSafe case and pockets mixture makes the general iPhone bundle smaller and lighter. By itself, the Gripmunk case is 4 mm thinner and 20 g lighter than the Smartish Pockets Slayer Vol. 1 case it changed (together with playing cards). Once I add the Aspect Hustle MagSafe pockets to the Gripmunk case, the positions flip: the Pockets Slayer case clocks in at 5 mm thinner and 42 g lighter.
| Gripmunk (no playing cards) | Gripmunk & Aspect Hustle (with playing cards) | Pockets Slayer (no playing cards) |
Pockets Slayer (with playing cards) | |
| Thickness | 12 mm | 21 mm | 16 mm | 16 mm |
| Weight | 228 g | 290 g | 230 g | 248 g |
Maybe extra importantly, the rounded edges of the Pockets Slayer case slide right into a pocket extra simply than the boxy mixture of the Gripmunk case and Aspect Hustle pockets.
Total, switching to the Gripmunk and Aspect Hustle mixture is a compromise. I favor it after I’m at residence and don’t want fast entry to my bank cards, driver’s license, and insurance coverage card, however after I’m out and about, the Aspect Hustle pockets is extra awkward than the Pockets Slayer case was.
MagSafe Continuity Digital camera Mount: Belkin and AllenVentions
As soon as I had the Gripmunk case, it was time to start out in search of a mount that may allow me to make use of Continuity Digital camera with my 27-inch iMac. The default alternative was the $39.99 Belkin Stage iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Mac Desktops and Shows as a result of it was the primary such mount and Apple carried it within the Apple Retailer. Belkin additionally makes a $29.99 Stage iPhone Mount for Mac Notebooks.
The Belkin Stage is well-designed and stable—it’s made from metallic with gentle, easy finishes. It appears and feels nice, and there’s no fear about it scratching or marking the display. It sits securely on both the 27-inch iMac, whose prime edge tapers considerably, or my 27-inch Thunderbolt Show, which has a thick, squared-off prime edge.
Positioning the iPhone on the mount is simple—I simply should flip it round and put it behind the mount so the rear-facing cameras can see me. If I try this earlier than beginning a Zoom name or the like, macOS ensures that the iPhone is the default digicam; if I put it on after beginning the decision, I’ve to decide on it manually. Both approach, the iPhone 15 Professional’s video high quality is noticeably higher (under left) than the iMac’s FaceTime HD digicam (under proper). Heart Stage does a superb job of zooming in dynamically and conserving me within the image as I transfer across the room, and Studio Lighting reduces the shadows on my face. I didn’t activate Portrait Mode for this instance, however I usually use it to blur the background.
As soon as, whereas testing Continuity Digital camera with Glenn Fleishman, I spotted that you would be able to place the iPhone with the cameras on the left, making them decrease, or on the best, making them increased. Though each product shot I’ve seen of Continuity Digital camera iPhone mounts reveals the cameras on the best, placing them on the left positioned them extra in step with my eyes so I used to be trying extra instantly at Glenn. In the event you’ve all the time positioned it a technique, see if the opposite works higher.
As profitable because the Belkin Stage mount is for holding the iPhone, I quickly found its weak spot: Continuity Digital camera chews by battery energy. The mount ought to incorporate a MagSafe charger so the iPhone would come off the mount with a minimum of as a lot energy because it began with.
Discovering a Continuity Digital camera mount that helps MagSafe was tougher than I anticipated. Quite a few stands and arms will maintain an iPhone and cost it utilizing MagSafe, however only a few mimic the top-of-screen design of the Belkin Stage whereas additionally supporting MagSafe charging. Whereas penning this, I stumbled throughout the $24.99 SODI Continuity Digital camera Mount for Desktop Monitor & iMac, however beforehand, I had solely been capable of finding the $22.99 AllenVentions Continuity Digital camera Mount for iPhone, considered one of many intelligent 3D-printed or handcrafted mounts from retailers on Etsy.
The AllenVentions mount shares its industrial design with the Belkin Stage, however the place the Stage has a round metallic magnet, the AllenVentions mount gives a 3D-printed plastic donut into which I slotted a typical Apple MagSafe charger. It’s a decent match however simply eliminated, and notches allow you to ship the charging cable down or out both facet. Though its 3D-printed plastic building lacks the heft of the Belkin Stage, AllenVentions additionally covers the plastic with a gentle materials, and the screws and hinges are all metallic. It may be considerably much less sturdy, however on condition that it’s a set-and-forget accent, I might be shocked if sturdiness ever got here into play.
In use, it does what you’d count on—it holds the iPhone and fees it through MagSafe. Now, after I use my iPhone for a protracted Zoom name, I don’t have to fret in regards to the iPhone dying through the name or being problematically drained instantly afterward. The one shock is that I can’t place the iPhone with the cameras on the left, or else the highest fringe of the mount seems within the image. Possibly that’s why all of the product photographs present the iPhone with the cameras on the best.
Frankly, if you happen to use Continuity Digital camera usually, get a mount that includes a MagSafe charger. Most will most likely simply have house to simply accept Apple’s charger, which you should buy from Apple for $39 or normally for much less from Amazon ($33.15 as I write this). Amazon additionally carries quite a few MagSafe Charger knockoffs for a lot much less, however there’s no method to know in the event that they’re exactly the identical measurement, and I’m hesitant to scrimp on one thing that carries energy.
MagSafe Desk Mount: BurdProducts
With Continuity Digital camera sorted, I turned my consideration to discovering one thing I might use with StandBy to show my iPhone right into a small image body on my desk. Constructed-in MagSafe charging was a necessity since I didn’t wish to fiddle with a USB-C cable and StandBy triggers solely when the iPhone is locked, charging, and in panorama orientation.
There are an untold variety of MagSafe charging stands, however some are restricted to portrait orientation, and most are too giant. I wished the iPhone to sit down below my iMac, which is barely 2.5 inches (6.5 cm) off the floor of my standing desk. If the stand raised the iPhone an excessive amount of, it will overlap the iMac awkwardly. I additionally didn’t wish to spend a lot since I wasn’t positive how helpful it will be.
I ended up on Etsy, the place I paid $10.99 for one more 3D-printed doohickey, the MagSafe Desk Mount from BurdProducts. It’s a single piece of plastic that’s even easier than the AllenVentions Continuity Digital camera mount. The MagSafe Charger cable runs by a slot and out a channel to the again, and the charger puck matches into the face of the mount.
Screw holes allow you to mount it to the highest or backside floor of a desk, however if you happen to’re as allergic to everlasting mounting approaches as I’m, detachable double-sided gel tape can present unbelievable grip power on easy, clear surfaces. A small piece below the BurdProducts desk mount held it down firmly.
StandBy labored as promised, however I needed to disable notifications in Settings > StandBy, or else they’d distract me. Nevertheless, I usually neglect to take my iPhone out of my pocket and put it on the mount, so it’s not as a lot of a win as I had initially anticipated.
An surprising bonus of the BurdProducts mount was that I lately upgraded to the second-generation AirPods Professional with a USB-C-based MagSafe Charging Case. Reasonably than having to recollect to plug within the AirPods Professional case sometimes, I might connect the case to the mount to cost it.
MagSafe Bedside Stand: KU XIU X55 Quick Wi-fi Charger
With StandBy not being as compelling on my desk as anticipated, I used to be hesitant to spend extra to make use of it within the bed room as properly. Nevertheless, for the reason that double-sided gel tape was detachable, I moved the BurdProducts mount into the bed room quickly and found that I preferred StandBy at evening sufficient to purchase a devoted charging stand.
As soon as once more, there are untold numbers of MagSafe-compatible stands that maintain the iPhone in panorama orientation, however a lot of them had been bigger than I wished, appeared as if they’d be simply knocked over within the evening, or price greater than I wished to spend. For fairly a while, I waffled about what to do till Michael Tsai advisable the KU XIU X55 Quick Wi-fi Charger, Magnetic Foldable 3 in 1 Charging Station, which lists for $79.99 however is commonly offered for much less—the corporate has it for $37.99 now, and though Amazon at the moment fees $49.99, I obtained it when it was $39.99. (There’s additionally the very related X40, which has considerably nicer supplies however lists for $109.99 and usually retails for about $70.)
The KU XIU X55 has three sections: a base that may cost an AirPods Professional case, a center piece with a fold-out disc for charging an Apple Watch, and a prime piece that includes a MagSafe-compatible charger. It has a USB-C port on the facet and a tiny standing mild that adjustments coloration to point charging—it’s sufficiently subtle that we haven’t felt the necessity to cowl it, one thing we needed to do with a journey charger (see “OneWorld 65 Combines Worldwide Adapter with 65W USB-C Charger,” 4 November 2022).
The AirPods Professional are by no means within the bed room, so I don’t use the underside charger, however my Apple Watch Collection 9 fees properly on the disc, and the iPhone 15 Professional affixes firmly to the MagSafe charging piece on the prime. As a lot as I preferred the look of the Elago W3 Stand that makes an Apple Watch seem like a 128K Mac (see “New Apple Watch Stand Appears Just like the 128K Mac,” 2 March 2017), it was attainable to mis-position the Apple Watch such that it wouldn’t cost, which hasn’t occurred but with the X55.
I used to be anxious it will be top-heavy and simply tip over, however that hasn’t been true. That’s good, as a result of my go-to double-sided gel tape gained’t persist with the gentle silicon pad on the underside of the X55. Though I hadn’t beforehand thought-about having to plug and unplug my iPhone a hardship, I admit that the MagSafe person expertise is simply higher in each approach. It’s straightforward to connect the iPhone and take it off, and it reveals the clock in StandBy immediately. StandBy even one way or the other is aware of to indicate images in my workplace as an alternative of the clock.
My different concern with StandBy was that it will be too vibrant. In a darkened room, nonetheless, the clock adjustments to a dim crimson, and it makes use of the iPhone’s sensors to activate solely when it detects motion. If I increase my head to take a look at the time, it’s there, and it turns off seconds later. I may even learn the clock face at evening with out my glasses, which was an issue with the Apple Watch in Nightstand mode.
The opposite benefit of the X55 is when touring. I haven’t taken a visit with it but, nevertheless it’s small enough and lightweight that I’m trying ahead to tossing it in my bag and having the ability to cost my iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods Professional from a single energy outlet. When Tonya and I journey collectively, we frequently have hassle discovering sufficient retailers which are appropriately positioned to plug in the whole lot we have to cost.
MagSafe Automotive Charging: Anker Automotive Charger with MagSafe Charger
After we drove as much as Oswego, New York, to look at the eclipse, I wanted to make use of my iPhone for GPS navigation, and since I had forgotten so as to add a USB-C cable to the Lightning cable that has historically lived in that automobile, the iPhone’s battery was fairly low by the top of the day. That made me notice that MagSafe would work properly for conserving the iPhone charged whereas driving, and avoiding a charging cable can be particularly useful as a result of the plug prevents the iPhone from sitting naturally in spots the place its display is definitely seen.
I checked out numerous automotive mounts, however I used to be doubtful that a lot of them would maintain the iPhone properly, others blocked vents in seemingly problematic methods, and people explicitly designed for our 2015 Subaru Outback had been costly. Plus, they’d have required the MagSafe Charger’s cable to snake up the console.
Then I spotted that the Outback has an angled door over a small storage compartment that hides the USB port and the cigarette lighter port (not that it comes with a cigarette lighter). It’s straightforward to see the iPhone in that spot, and I spotted {that a} piece of double-sided gel tape would maintain the MagSafe Charger puck in exactly the best place. A couple of seconds of experimentation proved me right.
The subsequent drawback was that our Outback has solely USB Kind-A ports in that compartment, and the MagSafe Charger has a USB-C plug. I’ve USB-C to USB Kind-A adapters, however they’re backward: they supply a male USB-C plug and a feminine USB Kind-A port, whereas I would like a male USB Kind-A plug and a feminine USB-C port. Such adapters exist, however many warn that they gained’t work with the MagSafe Charger or are restricted in how a lot energy they carry. Automotive USB ports usually don’t present a lot to start out.
Extra analysis revealed the answer to be a automobile charger that plugs into the cigarette lighter port, which gives a number of energy. You’ll find many such chargers with totally different port mixtures; I settled on the $11.97 Anker 52.5W Cigarette Lighter USB Charger, which gives a USB-C port and a USB Kind-A port. It gives as much as 30-watt quick charging through the USB-C port and 22.5-watt charging with the USB Kind-A port, and each could be in use directly.
On my first check, it labored completely, however there was one surprising hiccup. I had positioned the MagSafe Charger in order that the iPhone 15 Professional can be in panorama orientation, which match higher within the house.
Nevertheless, though Apple’s Maps app works wonderful in panorama whilst you’re utilizing the app, if you happen to lock the iPhone throughout navigation, the Lock Display screen model of the map shows solely in portrait orientation. That wasn’t a lot of an issue on my check journey—I simply left the iPhone unlocked in Maps—nevertheless it did pressure me to decrease the MagSafe Charger barely so the iPhone might connect in both orientation.
The Draw back of MagSafe
There isn’t any such factor as a free lunch, and MagSafe is an ideal instance. Though it does properly for an inductive charging expertise due to the magnets that guarantee exact positioning, an iFixit investigation means that MagSafe is about 36% much less environment friendly than charging with a cable and will waste 5.8 kWh per yr for a single iPhone—about $1 right here in New York State. Multiplied throughout thousands and thousands of iPhone customers, that further utilization is regarding. Nevertheless, the whole lot we do consumes energy, and also you’d use the identical quantity of energy in a yr by looking out Google roughly 50 instances per day or querying ChatGPT just a few instances daily.
A few of that inefficiency additionally leads to increased battery temperatures that would shorten the lifespan of the iPhone’s battery. It’s exhausting to place a worth on that as a result of it is determined by how lengthy you retain your iPhone and what occurs to it while you commerce it in. Finally, you’ll should determine for your self if the comfort and utility of MagSafe are definitely worth the added energy utilization and probably shorter battery lifespan.
Total, I’m proud of the MagSafe chargers and mounts I’ve accrued whereas researching, and I’ve no plans to return to wired charging more often than not. The improved video high quality from utilizing Continuity Digital camera, the enjoyment of seeing images at my desk, the comfort of StandBy at evening, and the improved usability of higher positioning within the automobile are all worthwhile, particularly when bolstered by much less fear about operating out of energy.
