MagSafe charging limited to 12W on the iPhone 12 mini

Posted:
in iPhone
The iPhone 12 mini is not able to recharge at up to 15W via MagSafe, Apple's support documents reveal, with the compact model restricted to a peak power delivery level of up to 12W.

MagSafe attached to the iPhone 12
MagSafe attached to the iPhone 12


When Apple announced the new MagSafe chargers, providing magnet-assisted wireless charging to the iPhone, it advised it would offer up to 15 watts of power delivery to supported devices, including the iPhone 12 range. While the feature is offered in all models, including the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, the feature is slightly limited in the iPhone 12 mini.

According to support pages for MagSafe, the 15W figure is true on the larger models, but on the mini, it's restricted down to "up to 12W of peak power delivery." It is unclear exactly why there is a difference in wireless charging power for that particular model, though it is plausibly due to the size of the smartphone.

The page also advises that the minimum requirements to achieve the 12W is slightly different to what is required for MagSafe to run at 15W. While the 15W version needs a charger operating at 9V/2.22A or higher, 12W instead need 9V/2.03 or higher.

MagSafe will also work for chargers that provide a minimum of 12W, such as 5V/2.4A, but it will "result in slower charging."

The MagSafe system uses a series of magnets to perfectly align the charging coils on the puck and the device, improving on a problem area of typical wireless charging systems. While it can work at up to 15W, users will have to connect the MagSafe puck to a charger capable of at least 20W to reach the maximum figure.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    If you’re the owner of a Tesla Model 3 SR+ model you are already fully prepared for this! LOL
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 9
    I am really bored by this „how fast can that phone/tablet charge“ discussion that is repeated every year when a new phone/tablet model comes along. Don‘t you have nights over there?

    It happens to me once every few month, that i need to charge my phone fast. In the meantime I deliberately use older chargers to charge it slowly. I don‘t know how you in the USA can live such a fast life that this charging time thing is really an issue. I sure hope that there are some more important things in your life. 

    Oh… wait…


    cornchipthtwatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 9
    entropysentropys Posts: 4,152member
    How fast via the lightning port?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 9
    uraharaurahara Posts: 733member
    entropys said:
    How fast via the lightning port?
    Lightning fast. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 9
    mazda 3smazda 3s Posts: 1,613member
    entropys said:
    How fast via the lightning port?
    18W max with a USB-C PD charger IIRC.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 9
    urahara said:
    entropys said:
    How fast via the lightning port?
    Lightning fast. 
    I vote this for best comment of the thread!
    fred1macguiwatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 9
    talexy said:
    I am really bored by this „how fast can that phone/tablet charge“ discussion that is repeated every year when a new phone/tablet model comes along. Don‘t you have nights over there?

    It happens to me once every few month, that i need to charge my phone fast. In the meantime I deliberately use older chargers to charge it slowly. I don‘t know how you in the USA can live such a fast life that this charging time thing is really an issue. I sure hope that there are some more important things in your life. 

    Oh… wait…
    You do realise that your whole complaint is based on your not even being able to imagine people using their devices differently than you, right?
    fred1CloudTalkin
  • Reply 8 of 9
    flydogflydog Posts: 1,123member
    svanstrom said:
    talexy said:
    I am really bored by this „how fast can that phone/tablet charge“ discussion that is repeated every year when a new phone/tablet model comes along. Don‘t you have nights over there?

    It happens to me once every few month, that i need to charge my phone fast. In the meantime I deliberately use older chargers to charge it slowly. I don‘t know how you in the USA can live such a fast life that this charging time thing is really an issue. I sure hope that there are some more important things in your life. 

    Oh… wait…
    You do realise that your whole complaint is based on your not even being able to imagine people using their devices differently than you, right?
    You do realize that the fact people use devices differently doesn’t automatically lend merit to a particular topic?


    macguiwatto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 9
    flydog said:
    svanstrom said:
    talexy said:
    I am really bored by this „how fast can that phone/tablet charge“ discussion that is repeated every year when a new phone/tablet model comes along. Don‘t you have nights over there?

    It happens to me once every few month, that i need to charge my phone fast. In the meantime I deliberately use older chargers to charge it slowly. I don‘t know how you in the USA can live such a fast life that this charging time thing is really an issue. I sure hope that there are some more important things in your life. 

    Oh… wait…
    You do realise that your whole complaint is based on your not even being able to imagine people using their devices differently than you, right?
    You do realize that the fact people use devices differently doesn’t automatically lend merit to a particular topic?
    It absolutely can do, as (in this case) people with different habits/requirements might be very interested in how the ability to quick charge differs between the different models of the just released new Apple devices (and this being an Apple news site and all…).
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