Apple's new MagSafe Battery Pack is like a removable battery for your iPhone

News
By Mark Knapp, Abbas Jaffar Ali
published

Remember when removable batteries on your phones used to be a thing?

Apple MagSafe Battery Pack
(Image credit: Apple)

Remember the time when mobile phones used to have removable batteries? As phones became dust and water resistant, sadly those batteries needed to be sealed into the case. Apple's latest MagSafe accessory lets you somewhat offer the functionally of an additional battery.

The MagSafe Battery Pack is a rechargeable battery pack, very much like other power banks that provide power on the go. Except that it offers wireless recharging and a MagSafe connector to easily slip on your iPhone and keep it charged. Having a couple of these will have you somewhat reminiscing about removable batteries on your mobile phone.

This battery pack comes almost a year after the the introduction of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro and the re-invention of the MagSafe technology that had been present on Apple's MacBooks. Surprisingly few actual MagSafe-branded accessories have come out in the time since the launch, and many of them  have been cases that don't do much to take advantage of the technology. 

Priced at AED 419, the MagSafe Battery Pack is showing shipping times of 2-3 weeks on Apple's website which takes it towards the end of July. It will work on all MagSafe supported phones which is basically the entire iPhone 12 range. Support page for the product says that it will require iOS 14.7 to work so expect that to land sometime in July as well.

So what’s cool about MagSafe?

MagSafe is a new feature of the iPhone 12 line that uses magnets to securely clip on cases, wallet clips, and wireless chargers to the back of phones. Obviously, this means any older iPhones won’t be able to use the feature – but owners of the newest Apple handsets should be a bit more excited than just getting a more foolproof wireless charging system.

For instance, accessory company Moment has announced new tripods and mounts that work with MagSafe which allow you to use your iPhone 12 like a more traditional camera. But there are others we’ve seen that are promising and interesting, like a car stand that looks more secure than the clamp-style mounts we’ve seen before.

These have all been third-party accessories, and we’re reasonably sure Apple won’t release any ambitious MagSafe products. But given the demise of AirPower, even an official multi-device wireless charger from Apple is neat.

Mark Knapp
Mark Knapp

Over the last several years, Mark has been tasked as a writer, an editor, and a manager, interacting with published content from all angles. He is intimately familiar with the editorial process from the inception of an article idea, through the iterative process, past publishing, and down the road into performance analysis.