Belkin launches first Apple-approved 15W MagSafe car charger

AppleInsider

More than two years after the launch of MagSafe, the first Apple-Authorized car charger is here. Belkin's new Boost Charger Pro Wireless Car Charger with MagSafe is available from Apple starting today.

Belkin's new MagSafe car charger

To date, all wireless car chargers that magnetically connect to iPhone 12, iPhone 13, or iPhone 14 have been Qi chargers with a ring of magnets. This means they could only deliver 7.5W of power to iPhones.

Belkin, who also introduced the first official MagSafe car mount in 2020, is now releasing an MFi-certified MagSafe car charger. It will safely charge an iPhone with up to 15W of power, and is the first -- and so far only -- official MagSafe charger for cars.

The Belkin BoostCharge Pro Wireless Car Charger with MagSafe has a silver, oval-shaped body that is able to connect to your vehicle's vents. It has an articulating clip to allow you to adjust to the best possible angle.

Everything that's included

A USB-C cord is built in and has its own cable management strap to keep your car tidy. A small USB-C CLA charger is also included in the box, color-matched to the cable.

The new Belkin MagSafe car charger is available to order from Apple now for $99 and will start shipping on November 14.

Read on AppleInsider

bluefire1

My car has vertical vents and this won’t work with them.

Japhey

After 2 years, I find this upgrade disappointing. The charger I really want looks a lot like this one, but with MFi-certified wireless CarPlay capabilities built in. If cplay2air can do it, why can’t Apple or Belkin? Give us that upgrade and I’ll give you $99 for a friggin’ car charger. 

macgui

This doesn't appear to be a hands-on first look. It's possible that the vent clips rotate, allowing for use with vertical vent vanes.

CAGALUN

I got this one from Sindox last year on Amazon;  and it supports 15W charging for a whole lot less money.  Works superbly and strong hold as well.  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08QZ8Y9DS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

newisneverenough

I recently bought what I assume to be the previous version of this… before I immediately returned it. It failed to attach well to the exact type of vents it was designed for. And the magnets also were not secure enough to keep the phone in place. I’d suggest waiting for reviews before you jump on this one. 

maggot777

So there’s no way this basic piece of equipment could have cost less than $99?  

darkvader

maggot777 said:

So there’s no way this basic piece of equipment could have cost less than $99?  

And it's Belkin, not exactly a name that suggests quality.

I see no reason to care if Apple "approves" of my car charger.  Wireless charging is a standard, what Apple "approves" should have nothing to do with your purchase decisions.

soundsinmotion

I bought something on Amazon that actually clips the regular MagSafe charger into and then you can clip that on to the vents. It’s like a small enclosure that holds the circular apple MagSafe charger in it. Can’t beat that!

soundsinmotion

AllOFUS said:

$99 to charge a phone, which in true sense not even wireless. Where are we going? 

Once more companies start to make them the. The price will go down with more competition.

StrangeDays

AllOFUS said:

$99 to charge a phone, which in true sense not even wireless. Where are we going? 

Is a wireless router nor wireless because it still plugs in for power supply? Still wireless, because in this context it means not having to plug a wire into the phone. Slapping a device on a charging surface is convenient for particular use cases. YMMV

StrangeDays

darkvader said:

maggot777 said:

So there’s no way this basic piece of equipment could have cost less than $99?  

And it's Belkin, not exactly a name that suggests quality.

I see no reason to care if Apple "approves" of my car charger.  Wireless charging is a standard, what Apple "approves" should have nothing to do with your purchase decisions.

Belkin is indeed a higher quality brand than most of the anonymous junk on Amazon. 

Non-MagSafe-certified devices do not achieve 15W charging capacity. 

Andrew_OSU

JP234 said:

A bit late out the gate this time, Belkin. We have a 2022 Volvo XC40 with a built in wireless charger. Just put the phone on a pad on the console (in a cubbyhole ahead of the shifter), and it charges it right up. Assuming pretty much all new cars above the most basic models/trims either already have it or will in a year.

Just won’t charge as fast. That will charge at 7.5W versus this at 15W. That’s the big difference.

Andrew_OSU

CAGALUN said:

I got this one from Sindox last year on Amazon;  and it supports 15W charging for a whole lot less money.  Works superbly and strong hold as well.  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08QZ8Y9DS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Not MagSafe. Just a Qi charger. It’s only charging your phone at 7.5W and it says as much buried on the product page. It can do up to 15W, just not with iPhones.

Andrew_OSU

darkvader said:

maggot777 said:

So there’s no way this basic piece of equipment could have cost less than $99?  

And it's Belkin, not exactly a name that suggests quality.

I see no reason to care if Apple "approves" of my car charger.  Wireless charging is a standard, what Apple "approves" should have nothing to do with your purchase decisions.

Correct, Qi is a wireless charging standard. Devices can get approved to ensure they are following the Qi spec. Just like Qi, MagSafe is a DIFFERENT standard from Apple. MagSafe chargers actually buy the charging component directly from Apple who tests it and certifies it and guarantees it meets those standards. Any Qi charger can have drastically different performance and won’t charge your iPhone at 15W.

eightzero

While we are talking about charging, I woke up to a dead iPhone this am. Traced it to these new battery charging "features" in iOS 16.1. They default to on, so be sure you intend to accept their function. 

CluntBaby92

Can’t stand the mounts that attach via car vents. I would think most phones would be too heavy for a lot of car vents. Instant no from me. Disappointed in the design of this thing, they should’ve made it into a dashboard mounted version and it would be a lot more secure. 

ihatescreennames

JP234 said:

Andrew_OSU said:

JP234 said:

A bit late out the gate this time, Belkin. We have a 2022 Volvo XC40 with a built in wireless charger. Just put the phone on a pad on the console (in a cubbyhole ahead of the shifter), and it charges it right up. Assuming pretty much all new cars above the most basic models/trims either already have it or will in a year.

Just won’t charge as fast. That will charge at 7.5W versus this at 15W. That’s the big difference.

So what? Why do I need to charge it faster when I can make and take calls & texts without ever touching it, and never taking it off the charger?

I know what you mean, I don’t really require fast charging very often and it’s not usually while I’m in my car. I can see that there are use cases for it, though. For instance, a friend of mine is a general contractor. He spends a lot of time on the job and out of his truck. He also takes/makes a lot of calls, texting, etc, while he’s on the job site. When he’s driving between sites he isn’t in the truck for long, sometimes less than 10 minutes. The more charge he can get into his phone the better. For him, charging at twice the speed is very convenient. 

Andrew_OSU

JP234 said:

Andrew_OSU said:

JP234 said:

A bit late out the gate this time, Belkin. We have a 2022 Volvo XC40 with a built in wireless charger. Just put the phone on a pad on the console (in a cubbyhole ahead of the shifter), and it charges it right up. Assuming pretty much all new cars above the most basic models/trims either already have it or will in a year.

Just won’t charge as fast. That will charge at 7.5W versus this at 15W. That’s the big difference.

So what? Why do I need to charge it faster when I can make and take calls & texts without ever touching it, and never taking it off the charger?

That’s up to you whether you care or not. Personally I don’t drive long distances and i need my phone to charge as quick as possible. 7.5W is slow and barely worth it for me. I have a 7.5W charger now and will greatly benefit from up to twice as fast speeds.

macgui

JP234 said:

Andrew_OSU said:

JP234 said:

A bit late out the gate this time, Belkin. We have a 2022 Volvo XC40 with a built in wireless charger. Just put the phone on a pad on the console (in a cubbyhole ahead of the shifter), and it charges it right up. Assuming pretty much all new cars above the most basic models/trims either already have it or will in a year.

Just won’t charge as fast. That will charge at 7.5W versus this at 15W. That’s the big difference.

So what? Why do I need to charge it faster when I can make and take calls & texts without ever touching it, and never taking it off the charger?

Damn, no need to get butt-hurt just because Andrew pointed out the difference to someone else. Nobody said what you need. Nobody cared. But some people who might be in a time crunch might appreciate a faster wireless car charger. That you don't is fine, and not relevant to anybody else.

I've got a 7.5W car charger and it works pretty well. I've found that if I'm using Mag long enough, the phone won't keep up. In that case I can always plug the phone directly into the charger in the 12V socket for charging at warp speed. Almost never leaving the house with a bare minimum of a 75% charge makes getting by with 7.5W charging, especially if I'm not going to be in the car long.

The MagSafe compatible charger fits on the vent vanes and has an adjustable foot that takes a lot of the weight off the vent. It's never come loose, so I'm happy.  I've used a lot of pinch-vane mounts and none of them had a foot to distribute weight. All of them failed to grip after awhile. So it's a great compatible mount.  I don't have much confidence in this Belkin offering.