MagSafe Charges 2x Slower Than Wired 20W USB-C Charger

Apple's MagSafe charger charges over two-times slower than a wired 20W USB-C charger, according to a new iPhone 12 video review from the Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern.

magsafe 50 percent slower

Screencap from video review

The review of the iPhone 12 and ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro was generally critical of Apple's ‌MagSafe‌ technology, explaining that the idea seems to be better in theory than in practice.

Although Stern found that the ‌MagSafe‌ charger charged the ‌iPhone‌ 12 faster than a traditional 7.5W Qi wireless charger, it was still slower than plugging directly into a 20W charger. The 20W charger charged an empty ‌iPhone‌ to 50% in only 28 minutes, while the ‌MagSafe‌ took 1 hour.

The full video review covers other aspects of the new ‌iPhone‌ 12 and ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro:

The review was also critical of the fact that the combined cost of the ‌MagSafe‌ charger and a 20W power adapter was $58 combined, and that the ‌MagSafe‌ charger's cable is less than a yard in length.

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Top Rated Comments

lestmak Avatar
57 months ago
Umm, no surprise there.... 20W wired vs 15W MagSafe vs 7.5W Qi. What would one expect?
Score: 60 Votes (Like | Disagree)
and 1989 others Avatar
57 months ago
Induction charging has always been slower than a direct connection. MagSafe should be no different.

Personally I see no inconvenience in wired charging for half an hour.
Score: 48 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mutepointer Avatar
57 months ago
No one should be shocked by this non story.
Score: 43 Votes (Like | Disagree)
robinp Avatar
57 months ago
2x slower is a really bad way of saying 'half the speed'
Score: 43 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kylo83 Avatar
57 months ago
ive said its just a gimmick and pointless
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
luccalabs Avatar
57 months ago
Well no ****. Induction charging is also terrible for the environment comparably. I believe in the best tests they got 30-40% more energy being used.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)