Apple’s MagSafe ecosystem has flourished with thousands of accessories for your iPhone, including chargers, mounts, and even wallet cases. There’s a bit more backstory than meets the eye.
Back in September 2017, Apple introduced both the iPhone 8 and iPhone X, which were the first iPhone models to feature wireless charging. At the same time, the company gave us a sneak peek of AirPower, which was a concept that would allow users to wirelessly charge a supported iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods simultaneously. However, there was a catch, AirPower never made it to market. In March 2019, Apple stated, “After much effort, we concluded that AirPower will not achieve our standards, and we have canceled the product.” Apparently, the concept was too ambitious because of several design flaws that could cause the product to overheat from several coils.
At the same time, Apple was developing prototypes of what’s now known to be MagSafe. Even after AirPower was canceled, Apple picked back up on developing MagSafe. We now can see a glimpse of what the earliest prototypes would look like based on this image Kosutami shared. The prototype design featured rounded edges, a white plastic design that’s similar to the bottom of a HomePod, and an embedded Apple logo.
Ultimately, MagSafe was officially introduced in October 2020 with the iPhone 12 series, and the design of the MagSafe charger we know today is similar to the Apple Watch’s puck charger. Now, most of the iPhone models and AirPods models that Apple sells support MagSafe charging.
