MagSafe Charging Plan Hits a Roadblock


    iPad Pro

    Photo: Caitlin McGarry

    The next iPad Pro might not get MagSafe charging after all. Various rumors indicated Apple would bring the wireless magnetic charging feature to this year’s flagship high-end tablet, however, a new report claims those plans might have been scrapped.

    Apple reportedly considered outfitting the iPad Pro with a glass back so it could add wireless MagSafe charger compatibility, but the company is apparently “uncertain” about using such a fragile material, according to a 9to5Mac report.

    Apple had prototyped an iPad Pro with a large Apple logo made of glass where power could transfer between the MagSafe charger and the tablet. This way, you could power up the iPad Pro by simply placing it on the wireless charging accessory. Better yet, Apple was using stronger magnets than what you find on the iPhone 13 and the prototype tablet could charge at even faster speeds.

    But sadly, no matter how sturdy Apple makes its “Ceramic Shield” glass seem, it is still susceptible to scratches and cracking. Reportedly unwilling to compromise on build quality, Apple may have abandoned the plan and is now searching for a different method for bringing its MagSafe to the premium tablet.

    You might be wondering why Apple can’t just use aluminum. Metals, it turns out, consume some of the power being transferred from the coil in a charging pad to the one in a device being charged. As a result, metals reduce charging times, and since the power soaked up by the material is turned into heat, using aluminum, steel, or titanium could potentially endanger a device’s internal components. This is why almost every device with wireless charging is made of polycarbonate or glass (with some exceptions).

    The report says Apple still wants to bring MagSafe to the 2022 iPad Pro, but we don’t know in what form now that the most obvious implementation might have been thrown off the table.

    Moving on to other details about the next Pro, 9to5Mac, citing unnamed sources, says the high-end tablet will include a larger battery that could accommodate the power-sapping Magic Keyboard, a camera module based on the iPhone 13’s, and a new chip. The current iPad Pro is powered by an M1 processor, but if Apple releases a MacBook Air with an M2 SoC as rumors suggest, then we can only assume the same chip will be adopted by the iPad Pro.

    Echoing a Bloomberg report, 9to5Mac also says Apple is prototyping iPad Pro models with displays larger than 12.9 inches and is thinking about adding a notch, which would extend the divisive design decision to more of its products (we hope this one isn’t true). Other rumors predict Apple will offer a miniLED display on the smaller iPad; currently, only the 12.9-inch iPad Pro has the upgraded display technology.

    Pinpointing a release date for these premium tablets is tricky, but most signs point to a late 2022 launch.



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