Apple introduced MagSafe for iPhone just four years ago in 2020. Besides looking great, it also saved the name of an abandoned (and later rescued) technology in MacBooks. The first word was great.

Not just because it’s useful: It looked like a before and after of the integration of magnets into wireless charging. Both because it makes Qi charging more reliable and efficient, and because these magnets open up so many more possibilities than advanced charging.

Four years later, that future remains more of a promise than a reality, and as they point out, it may never move beyond that. Ars Teknik. Maybe the donkey can’t do more, as they say in my town.

Don’t get me wrong: MagSafe works great and I would prefer an iPhone with MagSafe to an iPhone without MagSafe. Magazines line up perfectly, holsters fit well, and accessories are easier to keep in place. However, this anticipated revolution in new ways to use the iPhone has not yet occurred.

We have a handful of simple accessories: chargers, stands, wallets and external batteries. Sure, it’s useful, but it’s hardly revolutionary. Most existed before but are limited to their ability to copy with magnets. Qualifying offers like MagSafe Duo have been discontinued. The Sleep mode brought by iOS 17 seemed to be the beginning of an avalanche of alarm clock-shaped chargers, but that did not happen.

This image was strong in summer 2023, but it didn’t lead to many accessories taking advantage of this form factor. Image: Mateusz Haberny on Unsplash.

The problem is not technical: magnets work very well. The problem is Apple hasn’t inspired the kind of innovation we’ve come to expect from iPhone accessory makers. It is an industry in itself. Even with the advent of MagSafe’s first cousin, the Qi2 standard.

The early days of the iPhone and the late 2000s gave us a creative explosion in the accessory ecosystem. There were even new developments that seemed great to us, and they didn’t even last a year. Remember bumper covers? MagSafe, on the other hand, stuck with the obvious.

Even Apple doesn’t seem to have much interest in developing this ecosystem of magnetic accessories. It’s had pretty much the same thing since the beginning: silicone cases, clear case, wallet, and little else.

The wallet, for example, has room for improvement, but remains the same due to a faulty modification to FineWoven, a material well below the quality standard of any serious manufacturer.

One thing needs to be realized: the best MagSafe accessories are those from third parties, such as Belkin and Anker, which usually do not fail in this area. They have created ingenious multi-charging systems, or versatile supports, that take advantage of magnetism. But even if we trust the products Apple sells in its stores, MagSafe seems far from its potential.

This doesn’t mean MagSafe is a failure, it’s useful but it’s an incremental improvement, not as big a leap forward as it seems in 2020. Maybe expectations were too high, or maybe there’s still room for Apple or someone from a third party to improve. This innovation is better. It is a technology that currently continues to search for its true purpose.. Like a talented actor who is over forty years old and still waiting for a leading role.

Featured image | Mateusz Haberny on Unsplash

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