How Apple’s MagSafe works
The iPhone 16e appears on the surface to be an excellent addition — assuming you don’t want to use MagSafe charging or accessories.
It’s an interesting omission — while the iPhone 16e has Qi wireless charging, it lacks the magnet ring for MagSafe accessories. Practically, that means that old-style car mounts are the order of the day.
For those not familiar, MagSafe appeared with the iPhone 12 family. It is the combination of a mounting system and a charging system. Apple started with its Qi wireless charging coil and added several new components to create a proprietary type of wireless charging as well as allow the mounting of different accessories.
Practically, this allows for improved MagSafe wireless charging, and precision alignment for wireless charging. There are also a wealth of accessories going beyond charging, and including SSDs, camera grips, speakers, and more.
We expect third-party cases to add a magnet ring to sort-of restore the functionality to the iPhone 16e.
But for now, that rudimentary stand without magnets is probably the order of the day.
