Apple has offered an explanation for why it didn’t include MagSafe among the feature set of the new iPhone 16e. The company says the budget handset’s intended audience wouldn’t make use of the feature if it was available.
Apple representatives who spoke to Daring Fireball‘s John Gruber, told him that MagSafe is not included in the iPhone 16e because “most people in the iPhone 16e’s target audience exclusively charge their phones by plugging them into a charging cable.”
But according to Apple representatives, most people in the 16e’s target audience exclusively charge their phones by plugging them into a charging cable. They tend not to use inductive charging at all, and when they do, they might not care that the 16e is stuck with a pokey 7.5W Qi charging speed, when recent more expensive iPhones charge via MagSafe at 15W or even 25W …
MagSafe debuted alongside the iPhone 12 lineup in 202. The system uses magnets embedded in MagSafe-capable iPhones to easily align chargers and connect accessories. The technology also offers faster wireless charging than standard Qi wireless charging (up to 15W on most models and 25W on newer Pro models, Qi wireless charging is limited to 7.5W on iPhones).
When the iPhone 16e was unveiled without MagSafe, some speculated that the handsets new C1 modem might not be compatible with MagSafe functionality. However, Apple soon confirmed that was not the case.
It should be noted that some third-party iPhone 16e cases include built-in magnets, but they don’t offer faster charging speeds.
