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.

My custom MagSafe car setup.

This car mount from an obscure company on Amazon is by far one of the best MagSafe mounts that I have tried.

For a measly $11, you get two different places to mount your MagSafe puck: 

1. CD slot

2. Any surface with a 3M sticky base.

I use both spots on my car, depending on the season. Summer is perfect for the CD slot since I can keep the AC vent pointing to the back of the phone to avoid overheating the phone, causing the screen to dim. In the winter, I place my phone on a lower spot that has enough space for the 3M sticky mount. 

Summer setup in the CD slot (top) keeps my phone cool, and the sticky mount (bottom) keeps my phone cool in the winter.

I jumped on the MagSafe lifestyle since I had the iPhone 12 mini back in 2020, and these mounts have held up quite well. They are almost 4 years old, and these plastic pieces haven’t warped or cracked in the past 3 years, even though I park in direct sunlight all day long.

Occasionally the pivoting ball does get loose, but a quick turn to tighten it makes it firm and like new. 

CD slot option provides rubber grips that allow a secure hold.

3M ball joint mount has been holding up for over 3 years.

The 12 mini is a pretty light device, but I also purchased the 13 Pro Max, 14 Pro Max, and now the 15 Pro Max. The increased weight of these devices didn’t make the mount any looser, which is very reassuring. 

The best part about these mounts is their modularity since you have to purchase the MagSafe charger separately. For $41, you have the two mounting options and Apple’s MagSafe puck which fits like a glove. If something does break, you can replace either the mount or the charger, but you won’t have to replace an all-in-one solution with an expensive replacement. If I ever need the MagSafe puck outside the car, I can just take it off in an instant.

The funny thing about all this is that, since I have a short commute to work and usually don’t have any low-battery issues, my goal from the beginning was to just have a nice magnetic mount without a proprietary case system. Before MagSafe, the only way to get a magnetic mount was to either glue a magnet to your iPhone or get a case plus a compatible mount. I hate cases on my phone, so these were never an option. 

Once MagSafe was a reality on the iPhone, this was the time to get a magnetic car mount the way I wanted it. 

This mount and standard MagSafe puck combo works 99% of the time, but if you hit a New York City bump in the road, it would knock the phone right off. This is more a limitation of the MagSafe magnet strength, and not really the mount’s fault. With the 15 Pro Max, I wanted to be a bit more careful with it since I bought it overseas and it has a SIM slot. Yes I have AppleCare+, but if I damage this phone, I feel like Apple will only give me the eSIM version as a replacement here in the US, which doesn’t work on my carrier. In order to prevent this, I made another modification for my phone’s best interest.

I bought Moment’s wall mount, which has a significantly stronger magnet than the standard MagSafe magnet.  The wall mount diameter is bigger than the MagSafe charger, so it does not fit in the car mount cut out by itself. I would need to use the 3M backing of the wall mount and stick it to a MagSafe puck, which would fit directly into the car mount. I didn’t want to waste $30 on a MagSafe puck just to glue another piece to it, so I ended up buying a cheap MagSafe charger on eBay for $15, cut the wire off, and now I had my custom, modular, MagSafe mount with a stronger magnet.

Moment wall mount = stronger magnets.

Once again due to the modularity of this system, I can easily take this puck off and place it on either mount, so I have a stronger connection that is pothole proof.

I even bought another set for my wife’s car so I can use it on longer road trips. The stronger magnet is essential when tapping the screen during navigation, changing podcasts, etc. It provides more confidence knowing that a hard tap or road bump will still keep the phone safe and secure.