In my hunt to find something similar to Apple’s MagSafe Battery Pack I’ve realized – there’s nothing like it at all. Not even close.
Apple’s MagSafe Battery Pack from 2021 Might be Slow but it’s Years Ahead of Third Party Options from 2024
Released back in 2021, the MagSafe Battery Pack was received with mixed opinions. Even I was confused what Apple had shipped. This thing didn’t have enough capacity, was slow, yet has a couple of things which makes it better and still wins to this day.
Let’s get the elephant out of the room first, the MagSafe Battery Pack can’t fully charge an iPhone from zero. But, it does provide you with enough power to get you till the end of the day, and it does that smartly, too. It pauses charging when your iPhone is in use or if there’s chance of overheating. It does not charge all the way to 100%, instead it will pause charging at 90% though you can force it all the way to full. Why? Because it cares about battery health, and I’m sure you do, too.
There’s no MagSafe battery pack out there that features this level of smartness and Apple hasn’t allowed it either because this accessory is from Apple itself, so third-party rules don’t apply.
Charging happens when you instantly attach the Battery Pack to the back of your iPhone. There’s no button to power it on, there’s just one single light that flashes green or amber, depending on the state the pack is in. And you can even use your MagSafe-capable iPhone to charge the Battery Pack. Just connect the charging cable to your iPhone and reverse charging will charge the pack, too. Another feature you won’t find anywhere else. Basically, if you have a USB-C iPhone, you can skip taking the Lightning cable with you and charge the Battery Pack overnight while attached to the iPhone.
Want to check the remaining battery life on the pack? It shows up in iOS as a widget. Again, a feature you won’t find anywhere else.
Even if you don’t pocket this thing often, you can leave it at home connected to a Lightning cable and it will act as a standalone MagSafe charger. It is always ready to charge an iPhone, AirPods, and basically anything that is Qi capable.
My point is, Apple needs to do this product again. Now that Qi2 is here, third parties are really stepping their game up in terms of speed, but don’t quite have that Apple pizzazz to in their products like reverse wireless charging, smart charging and iOS widget support. A battery pack that supports charging speeds of up to 15W is only going to be an icing on the cake. USB-C will be an obvious upgrade.
If Apple doesn’t want to do the Battery Pack again, at least open up the technologies behind it to third-party manufacturers.
