Not Sure I Need A Magnetic Charger

In January, I said I would buy No New Tech. I meant I should try to keep using my current main devices this year. So far, so good, though tech temptation has occurred. I did buy a small new accessory: a MagSafe charger for my iPhone. While it solves a problem, I kind of feel like a chump for buying it.

I’ve used wireless Qi chargers for a while now and love the convenience of just plopping my phone on top to charge, then just picking it back up when I’m ready. One-handed ease of use is nothing to sneeze at. But the Qi charger by my bed was problematic.

Apparently, I toss and turn in my sleep more than I realize, because far too often my iPhone would get bumped or nudged ever-so-slightly off the Qi sweet spot, not charging overnight. Waking up to an iPhone 12 mini (small battery!) without enough juice for the day is not a fun way to rise from slumber. That was a problem to solve.

For Valentine’s Day, one of the gifts I bought for my wife was a MagSafe charger for her iPhone. I saw how well it worked, tried it with my phone, and then insta-bought another one from Amazon for myself; it works. At night, my iPhone no longer moves off the charging pad. It stays stuck right where it should. So simple, those magnets!

Then I realized something that made me wonder if I wasted my money. The problem I wanted to solve was the charger not sticking to the phone properly. But I already had a good enough solution on hand – the cable itself. You just plug it into the lightning port and it stays. No magnets needed. How’s that for simple?

Sure, I must use two hands to connect the phone to the cable. But so what? I already do that for every single other device I own, save one. My tablet, laptop, ereader, headphones, etc.: they all charge via old-fashioned cable plugged into port. Only my Apple Watch uses a MagSafe charger otherwise.

So yeah. I could have saved myself the expense of the MagSafe puck. I could have just plugged in the cable. That said, there’s the downside of said cable being the only lightning type I need. It’s annoying when everything else – MacBook and iPad included – charge via a standard USB-C port (soon enough, I’ll upgrade my bluetooth speaker, which still relies on micro-USB).

Oh well. I like the clean magnet-attaching charge puck for my phone. It works well. But once it no longer serves its purpose, I’m going back to just using the plain charge cable that came in the box (assuming I’ve got a charge brick for it already). Why can’t a multi-trillion-dollar valued company just provide a charge brick with its $1,000 phone? Nevermind, I digress.