Australian technology news, reviews, and guides to help you
Australian technology news, reviews, and guides to help you

Mophie joins the MagSafe train with charging accessories

More MagSafe gear is rolling on out, this time from Mophie, which will include battery packs that snap on.

It took some time, but it’s finally happening. When Apple launched its reinvented take on MagSafe at last year’s iPhone 12 launch, we only saw gear from Belkin. Since then, the gadgets have been gradually making their way out, but in small numbers, primarily from Apple and Belkin, one of which we saw recently, a wireless charging stand from Belkin.

However those two aren’t alone, as the maker of one the first iPhone charge cases is jumping on board the MagSafe train.

And Mophie is doing it with some rather unexpected gadgets, as well as something a little less expected, which may have the ability to turn an iPhone without MagSafe into one with MagSafe.

If you’ve already had a search, you might have found out that only models in the iPhone 12 range and above support MagSafe’s magnetic connection, with the iPhone 11 and below — including the iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR, iPhone SE, and iPhone 8 — missing out on the magnetic charger love.

But Mophie’s additions could bring the magnetic MagSafe connection to any iPhone, and maybe even to Android phones with wireless charging on-board, arriving in the “Snap” series of Mophie’s accessories.

There are quite a few of these, with all of these made specifically for the MagSafe magnetic mounting ring found on the iPhone 12 range, including a wireless charge stand that holds an iPhone up ($89.95), a Juice Pack Mini power pack that snaps to the back of the phone ($69.95), a wireless charger ($59.95), and a wireless charging mount for the air vents in your car ($89.95).

Mophie will also offer a charging pack with a built-in stand designed to let you recharge your phone while it stands up, wirelessly recharging your phone and keeping it aimed at you. Priced at $99.95, it’s built for pretty much any wirelessly charged phone, and can still be plugged into others, though also plays nicely with the magnetic link that MagSafe offers.

However Mophie is bringing something rather interesting that could make MagSafe connections and accessories work on older iPhones and even Android devices, coming in the Mophie Snap Adapter.

Priced at $24.95 and including two in the box, it may well be the most interesting of the MagSafe accessories out in the world, with these allowing you to bring the magnetic hold of MagSafe to more devices, using it to mount to the cases ideally.

It means that while you can’t find MagSafe on an Android phone, Mophie’s Snap Adapter could bring the connection type. It won’t guarantee the connection performance and speed — that’s partly why MagSafe exists — but if you position the MagSafe ring around where the wireless charging is on a phone without MagSafe, it should hold the charger in place.

We’re not sure if that means Mophie’s Snap Adapter has the ability to make any phone compatible with every MagSafe accessory, but at $25, it’s a gadget we are more than eager to try out.

You’ll find this in the new Mophie range by Zagg, all of which is heading to retailers in Australia in August.

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