Apple says that you can use wireless Qi chargers with the iPhone 16e and it’s true, but isn’t MagSafe and that causes problems.
Apple says that you can use wireless Qi chargers with the iPhone 16e and it’s true, but isn’t MagSafe and that causes problems.
One of the compromises Apple made with making a lower-cost entry to the iPhone 16 range was to remove MagSafe. Apple is correct when it says you can still use wireless charging, but that’s not the half of it.
If you have to use a Qi charger instead of MagSafe, it will take much longer and it will be so inefficient that it uses more power. And that’s if you can be certain you have placed the iPhone 16e on exactly the right spot of the Qi charger.
Compare that last to MagSafe. You are never in any doubt whether you have or have not positioned the iPhone correctly because the magnets practically tug you to the right spot.
The magnets also mean that the iPhone’s charging circuitry precisely lines up with the charger so all of the available charge is going into the phone. That certainty that you are charging is probably more important than the fact MagSafe charges faster.
If you always charge your iPhone overnight then you have no need to care how long it takes. But if the iPhone wasn’t aligned and didn’t charge, now the time it takes before you can leave home is important.
MagSafe charges at 25 watts on the iPhone 16. A regular Qi charger can manage a peak of 7.5W on the iPhone 16e.
Qi2 is better, but you won’t get it
Apple based its MagSafe system on the original Qi, but then built up around it so that it became a proprietary wireless charger. Apple also added components to allow the mounting of different accessories.
