When you're shopping accessories for your iPhone, you've probably seen the word MagSafe popping up a lot. It's no surprise; MagSafe is a useful feature of newer iPhones that can allow you to wirelessly charge your phone faster, and also offers some useful secondary benefits.

Just to make things really confusing, the same name also applies to a different magical use of magnets that's found in the charging ports of current MacBooks. Let's try and clear things up once and for all by answering that all-important question: what is MagSafe, and how does it work?

What is MagSafe for iPhone?

MagSafe for iPhone is a ring of magnets built into the back of newer iPhone models. These magnets are predominantly intended to help wireless chargers align perfectly with the charging coils inside your iPhone so that your device can take advantage of faster wireless charging.

However, there are also some secondary benefits to the MagSafe magnets inside your iPhone. They allow other accessories such as mounts and docks to hold your iPhone securely in place using the internal magnets. There are a wide range of MagSafe accessories that take advantage of this feature; you can learn more about this further down.

How does MagSafe for iPhone work?

MagSafe for iPhone works by making use of the ring of small magnets that have been built into newer iPhones. These magnets form a circle around the charging coil inside your iPhone that's used to charge your iPhone wirelessly.

MagSafe chargers also contain a ring of magnets in the exact same dimensions as the ring of magnets in your iPhone. When a MagSafe charger is attached to the back of your iPhone, the magnets of your MagSafe charger are attracted to the magnets inside your iPhone. The MagSafe charger will then snap into place, with the charging coil in the MagSafe charger perfectly aligned with the charging coil in your iPhone.

This precise alignment of the charging coils allows your iPhone to take advantage of fast charging, which wouldn't be possible if the coils weren't perfectly aligned. Using a MagSafe charger with a compatible iPhone, you can charge at up to 15W, although this is limited to 12W on the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 13 mini.

What is MagSafe for Mac?

MagSafe isn't new. In fact, the name has been around since all the way back in 2006 (that's right, it's even older than the iPhone), when it was first introduced to the 2006 MacBook Pro. MagSafe on a Mac is very different to MagSafe on an iPhone, however. Using the same name for two different things isn't that helpful, but Apple gotta Apple.

On a Mac, MagSafe refers to the charging cable of your Mac, which connects to the charging port using magnets, allowing it to snap into place. The idea is that if you accidentally trip over your power cable, instead of pulling your top-of-the-range MacBook crashing to the floor, all that happens is that the charging cable pops out.

It's an effective feature, and the satisfying snap of your charger fitting into place never gets old. In fact, when Apple discontinued MagSafe for Macs for a few years from 2016, many Mac users were up in arms about it. Thankfully, it made a return in 2021 and has been a consistent feature ever since.

What Apple products have MagSafe?

To take advantage of benefits of MagSafe chargers, you'll need a compatible iPhone. You can still charge an older iPhone with a MagSafe charger, but it won't snap perfectly into place, and you won't be able to use fast charging.

The current iPhone models that are compatible with MagSafe is as follows:

• iPhone 14
• iPhone 14 Plus
• iPhone 14 Pro
• iPhone 14 Pro Max
• iPhone 13
• iPhone 13 mini
• iPhone 13 Pro
• iPhone 13 Pro Max
• iPhone 12
• iPhone 12 mini
• iPhone 12 Pro
• iPhone 12 Pro Max

For MacBooks, you'll find MagSafe on all models released since 2021, or any model from 2006 to 2015.

What MagSafe accessories are available?

If you thought that having two different versions of MagSafe was confusing, wait until you get a load of the terminology for MagSafe accessories. You have some accessories which are 'Made for MagSafe' and others which are 'MagSafe compatible' but these are VERY different things.

Made for MagSafe means that the accessories have been tested against Apple's MFi guidelines and have been approved by the company. These accessories can offer faster charging at up to 15W. 'MagSafe compatible' products don't have the official MagSafe tech inside them. They may contain magnets that allow you to connect your iPhone to them, but they're not capable of providing faster charging, so you'll get a maximum of 7.5W.

Long story short, if you want to take advantage of fast charging, you'll need a Made for MagSafe charger. If you're only looking for something that connects magnetically to your iPhone but doesn't charge it, such as a phone grip, then any MagSafe compatible product will suffice.

There is a huge range of Made for MagSafe and MagSafe compatible products out there, from wireless charging stands and battery packs to car mounts and MagSafe tripods. Just make sure you read the label carefully.