Apple has expanded its MagSafe accessory range with a snap on battery for on the go or deskside wireless charging.
For a portable battery, it looks small, but it’s there to give you a boost, not days and days of recharges, interestingly though, Apple is pushing it as an on the go and static charger – allowing you to charge the battery and your phone at the same time.
When attached to the back of your phone, and lets say – in your hand as you walk, it will deliver power to your phone at 5W. Slow by wireless charging standards.
If you’re at your desk, with the phone snapped on, AND the battery plugged into a Lightning cable and standard power brick, you can charge both at the same time.
You might get 15W charge for your phone if you use a bigger USB power supply, like one that comes with your MacBook and you’ll get 20W.
There is also intelligent passthrough of information, with the battery pack status showing on the iPhone battery widget within your home screen or widget screen.
And it appears the battery is also tuned to not charge your phone past 90%, for optimal battery health – though if you are a nervous nelly, you can enter low power mode to charge past 90% (interesting given normally Low Power mode only stays on when you charge up to 80%).
Its the first in what will surely be a long line of portable and hybrid power solutions for iPhone 12 using MagSafe.
At $139, it ain’t cheap for a small portable battery. Available now for Pre-Order, shipping next week.
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