Earlier today, images of an unreleased Apple MagSafe charging accessory for iPhones called “Magic Charger” surfaced on the internet.
Apple first introduced MagSafe on iPhones in September 2011. It’s a magnetic technology built into the iPhone 12 lineup’s internal engineering.
Expectedly, the tech giant released accessories to take advantage of the MagSafe technology. These include a regular MagSafe charger and the MagSafe Duo Charger, a multipurpose wireless charger to power two devices at the same time.
Besides the MagSafe Battery Pack, Apple hasn’t extended the technology to other power-related accessories — or so it would seem. New images on Twitter suggest that Apple may have developed another MagSafe product called Magic Charger but didn’t release it.
Rare Apple product collector, TheBlueMister, first shared images of the unreleased MagSafe accessory earlier in the month. However, several photos of the Design Validation Test (DVT) version of the device are now surfacing online
MagSafe Charger pic.twitter.com/ElQM5yDbjh
— DuanRui段锐 (@duanrui1205) November 15, 2022
So how does it work?
Exploring the Unreleased MagSafe Magic Charger
The unreleased accessory’s design looks remotely like the MagSafe Duo and the now-discontinued Apple Watch Magnetic Charging Dock.
It’s a space gray aluminum base with an integrated MagSafe puck, which users can adjust into a vertical position or lay flat. A built-in USB Type C charging cable is also attached to the base.
TheBlueMister claims to be working on disassembling the accessory to restore it to working order and explore its features. However, the Twitter user noted that plugging it into a Mac revealed the name “Apple Magic Charger.”
While we’re unsure why Apple didn’t release the Magic Charger, 9To5Mac speculates that it could be because it doesn’t look useful or practical.
“This Magic Charger looks virtually worthless in practice,” says Chance Miller. “You’d seemingly only be able to put your iPhone on the MagIc Charger in landscape mode or lay it flat when the MagSafe puck is inset into the base. Portrait mode? Nope.”
In other words, Apple may have buried the MagSafe product due to this limitation.
