Apple's MagSafe Duo Charger Unable to Charge iPhones at Full 15-Watt Power

Apple's upcoming MagSafe Duo Charger pairs a ‌MagSafe‌ iPhone charger with an Apple Watch charging puck, but as noted by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple has recently updated the product description to note that the ‌MagSafe‌ portion of the charger won't charge at the full 15 watts supported by the standalone ‌MagSafe‌ charger.

magsafe duo charger
Neither the basic ‌MagSafe‌ Charger nor the ‌MagSafe‌ Duo Charger ships with a power adapter, with Apple noting that a 20-watt or greater USB-C adapter is recommended for the basic ‌MagSafe‌ Charger in order to deliver the maximum 15 watts of power supported by ‌MagSafe‌. (The iPhone 12 mini can charge at a maximum of 12 watts over ‌MagSafe‌, while all other ‌iPhone‌ 12 models support 15 watts.)

Apple initially recommended that the ‌MagSafe‌ Duo Charger also be used with a 20-watt adapter, leading some potential customers to wonder whether it would be able to deliver the full 15 watts of power to an ‌iPhone‌ while simultaneously charging an Apple Watch.

As it turns out, it won't. According to the updated product description, the ‌MagSafe‌ Duo Charger can only deliver 11 watts of power when paired with a 20-watt USB-C adapter, and 14 watts when paired with a 27-watt or higher USB-C adapter.

Recommended:

-20W USB-C Power Adapter (sold separately) for faster wireless charging up to 11W
-27W or higher USB-C Power Adapter (sold separately) for faster wireless charging up to 14W

Apple's ‌MagSafe‌ system continually regulates the charge being delivered to a connected ‌iPhone‌ based on heat and other factors, so even a regular ‌MagSafe‌ Charger generally won't deliver a constant 15 watts, but still, the fact that the ‌MagSafe‌ Duo Charger delivers lower peak power than that may be concerning to some potential customers.

Apple still has not announced a launch date for the ‌MagSafe‌ Duo Charger, which is priced at $129 without a power adapter. The charger continues to be listed simply as "Coming soon."

Top Rated Comments

sniffies Avatar
37 months ago
Looks like MagSafe Duo Charger is in line with the success of AirPower ?
Score: 57 Votes (Like | Disagree)
betterbegood Avatar
37 months ago
I miss the old Macbook Magsafe that would actually charge at a decent speed, easily detach, and all of that.
This is just getting ridiculous
Score: 49 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iPrabhu Avatar
37 months ago
MagSafe is less appealing as the news unfolds day by day.
Score: 49 Votes (Like | Disagree)
adammusic Avatar
37 months ago
LOL at anyone who buys this at $129.
Insane.
Score: 41 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Nozuka Avatar
37 months ago
Imagine buying a charger for $129 and having to buy an additional power adapter to use it...
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Johnny907 Avatar
37 months ago
Lol could this thing be a bigger sack of fail? I submit to you it could not.
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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