Apple's MagSafe Battery Pack 3 years later - why it is still the most versatile battery pack.
Announced back in July 2021, Apple’s MagSafe Battery Pack was the first official MagSafe battery bank. Although it doesn’t have the capacity of many cheaper alternatives in the market, it arguably has the most versatility.
That versatility all comes down to its lightning port.
Apple is phasing out the lightning port, but the fact is there are still millions, if not hundreds of millions of people who still use a lightning iPhone.
You and I might have switched to USB-C, but we all probably know at least one person in our families that has a lightning iPhone.
If you plug in your MagSafe Battery Pack with a lightning cable and have your iPhone attached, it will charge both the battery pack and the iPhone. That’s a given.
What most people find surprising is that if you plug in your iPhone via USB-C to charge while the battery pack is attached, it will charge your iPhone and reverse charge your battery pack.
If you are ever stuck in a pinch and need to borrow someone’s “iPhone cable,” you don’t have to worry about what cable they hand you because you can top up both devices with either lightning or USB-C.
I have mine since launch day back in July 2021, and it has still held up well. I recently tested it on my 15 and 16 Pro Max devices, and the software integration is still there, with some false promises:
iPhone can charge to approximately 90% while using a MagSafe battery pack.
Not sure why it says that because the most this battery could charge an iPhone is 70% for an iPhone 12 or 13 mini.
In actuality, my 16 Pro Max charged from 20% to 59%, which is on par with Apple’s claim of 40% for the 12, 13, and 14 Pro Max.
This device technically is not supported on any of the iPhones 15 and 16 according to their website, but it still works.
Once again, not the most capacity, but still has great versatility for those situations where all you have access to is a lightning cable.
Even though it is discontinued, you can grab one on eBay for less than $50 compared to the $99 it was when new.