Apple’s first-party lineup of MagSafe charging accessories for the iPhone is fairly limited: you’ve got the standard MagSafe puck, the MagSafe Duo, the underwhelming MagSafe Battery Pack, and well… that’s it. But new images indicate that Apple at some point considered releasing a metal stand with an integrated MagSafe charger.
The photos and related details were shared by Twitter user @TheBlueMister and subsequently covered by MacRumors. @TheBlueMister is among a hobbyist group of collectors on Twitter that share details about prototype and prerelease Apple devices and accessories. More than one person has gotten ahold of the “Apple Magic Charger” (that’s what it’s identified as when plugged into a Mac), which helps lend some credence to its authenticity.
The product has a thick aluminum base with a circular cutout for the MagSafe puck, which can either lie flat or be stood vertically, similar to the Apple Watch charger on the MagSafe Duo.
There’s a rubberized layer on the bottom to prevent the Magic Charger from moving around, and a permanently attached USB-C cable is also visible. The latter seems terrible for overall durability and traveling with the thing, but I guess that’s what the MagSafe Duo is meant for.
A bigger, more obvious flaw is that the Magic Charger can really only hold an iPhone in landscape orientation; the round magnetic MagSafe puck is too low to accommodate the vertical position. Nomad makes a metal MagSafe base that looks quite similar and supports 15-watt charging — but without the standing orientation.
My guess is that Apple realized the Magic Charger’s landscape-only standing position was too impractical and inconvenient before this accessory came close to being released. I’m curious what, if anything, was “magic” about its integration with the iPhone; maybe Apple was contemplating unique software experiences like those offered by Google’s Pixel Stand. Or maybe it was just a fancy name for what likely would’ve been a pricey charger.
