![]() The MagSafe Battery Pack is designed in a way that suggests you should be able to carry it around while attached, but in reality, it’s simply too bulky. And, to be frank, reveals why the old-fashioned cable-based power banks make much more sense. When I first attached the Battery Pack to my iPhone and took it out on the road, it weighed heavily in my shorts pocket and resulted in a bulge that could have taken out a passing bus if I swivelled too quickly. The weight will be an issue for some people. Texting with the Battery Pack attached, for instance, feels like you’ve accidentally picked up a prototype Blackberry from 1998. Once attached, your phone feels like an entirely different, more cumbersome device – particularly when tapping on the screen. ![]() This is a bulky little thing on the iPhone 12 Pro. I’ve read a few reviews of the MagSafe Battery Pack which have suggested that it isn’t quite as big as it looks in the product shots. This doesn’t impact the Battery Pack’s performance at all. The circular magnet is where the majority of the grip is, leaving the rest of the accessory to simply swing out of line, pendulum-fashion. It appears to be the lower half of rectangular MagSafe accessories which causes the issue. It’s completely un-Apple, and affects accessories like the MagSafe Wallet, too. The MagSafe Battery Pack never appears to sit squarely on the back of my iPhone 12 unless I adjust it manually. But the therapeutic joy of attaching two magnets is eroded when you realise that your MagSafe Battery Pack is skew-whiff. I love the use of magnets in tech – it’s such a smart, tidy solution for combining stuff and ensuring lids remain closed. If it’s any other shape, nine times out of ten you’ll need to manually align it once attached. And this is for one very simple reason the magnet arrangement on the iPhone 12 works perfectly if the thing you’re attaching is circular. Unfortunately, it has thus far been the neatest use of MagSafe I’ve experienced. I love the MagSafe hockey puck charger it has completely replaced the ancient way of charging my iPhone via lightning. Apple is concerned about heat, and preserving your battery until you reach a wall plug is still pretty useful. Which, at £99 is a little hard to swallow, given the much cheaper, cable-based competition – most of which do actually charge your phone when connected.ĭespite this, I understand why it’s so slow. I have no idea how long it would take to fully charge a low battery on an iPhone 12 – or if it’s even possible – but that clearly isn’t what the MagSafe Battery Pack is designed for. It charges biblically slowly (at a rate of around five watts). The MagSafe Battery Pack doesn’t really do this. ![]() ![]() For them, the ability to boost their battery while out on the road can be a lifesaver. Some people regularly run their phone battery down to just a few single digital percentage points and need a top-up. I rarely leave the house for more than a few hours, and if I am going somewhere overnight, I’m never far from a wall plug. I’m not the sort of person who needs regular access to a portable phone charger. I’ve bought a few power banks in my time. However, like its coin-sized tracking device cousin, Apple’s latest MagSafe accessory for the iPhone 12 is simply an incredibly odd product. It does the job intended and looks pretty nice, to boot. But, then, there’s nothing really wrong with the MagSafe Battery Pack, either. I don’t think we’ll ever see an AirTag 2 in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they quietly slip from the shelves altogether at some point in the future. They feel like the most ‘me too’ device the company has launched in recent memory. The AirTag is such a strange little product for Apple. I’ve found a use for mine, but I have a distinct suspicion that Apple has forgotten about them.
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