iFixit has today shared a teardown of Apple's new MagSafe charger for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro.
An X-ray of the MagSafe charger courtesy of Creative Electron reveals the internal charging coil surrounded by a circular arrangement of magnets within the puck.
The only seam that iFixit was able to leverage to open the device was where the white rubber circle meets the metal rim, which was connected with a strong, heat-sensitive adhesive.
On the underside of the white cover was an etched copper sticker that traced to four corresponding leads spaced around the outside of the charging coils. Under the coils was a shielded circuit board.
iFixit also offered a comparison with the Apple Watch charging puck, which internally appears to be surprisingly dissimilar to MagSafe. The main difference is the dark ring of magnets around the exterior in the MagSafe charger, which corresponds to magnets within the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro. The Apple Watch charger instead uses a single magnet in the center of the puck to align.
iFixit is expected to release a teardown of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro shortly.
Thursday April 16, 2026 2:54 pm PDT by Juli Clover
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I loved MagSafe, but doesn't this kind of defeat a big purpose of wireless charging? Since it's held with magnets I'm going to have to grab the charger and pull it off in order to disconnect it. Isn't it more convenient to just set it down and pick it up?
This won’t work for everyone, but you could always stick the MagSafe disc onto your counter with some sticky tape or suction cups. As long as that bond is stronger than the magnetic bond on the iPhone, you’re golden.
This won’t work for everyone, but you could always stick the MagSafe disc onto your counter with some sticky tape or suction cups. As long as that bond is stronger than the magnetic bond on the iPhone, you’re golden.
I just installed a couple of these MagSafe chargers on my kitchen counter. I plugged them into my undermount cabinet electrical sockets, used clear tape to secure the wire to the backsplash and counter, and 3M double sided tissue tape to hold the charger to the countertop. Works like a charm!
I loved MagSafe, but doesn't this kind of defeat a big purpose of wireless charging? Since it's held with magnets I'm going to have to grab the charger and pull it off in order to disconnect it. Isn't it more convenient to just set it down and pick it up?
I think the magnet's purpose is to make sure that the device is aligned with the charger for proper charging. In my case, I find it sometimes that my iphone is not charged when I wake up in the morning.
I loved MagSafe, but doesn't this kind of defeat a big purpose of wireless charging? Since it's held with magnets I'm going to have to grab the charger and pull it off in order to disconnect it. Isn't it more convenient to just set it down and pick it up?
Some people want a phone that doesn't have to be on the charger continually cuz instrusive charging in case. They don't want to have to be tied to a cord while they talk because, ahem, MOBILE PHONE.
You are just excusing a feature that is really just a ???? to most people, or feature for Apple's convenience, with no obvious consultation with users.
If Apple told us why the MagSafe will make things better in the future, that's what the customers should be told up frong.
What is getting you so upset? (a) I can tell you for a fact that there are people on Twitter who love the Magsafe connector for precisely the reason I gave that you can use your phone while it is charging. You're welcome to say that you don't care about this. You don't get to tell other people that they should not care about this.
(b) If you don't want to use magsafe, then don't. The world is full of non-magnetic wireless chargers.
(c) It sounds like you really really want a larger battery. Buy a battery case!
All these problems CAN BE SOLVED. Do you want to solve them, or do you want to whine?
Probably not much more than 2-4 dollars total cost make each one. Add 1 dollar for packaging and boom! 39 dollars in the store. 30-34 dollars in profit on each unit, tens of millions will be sold.
You can say that. And yet it remains a fact that - lining up the phone on a qi charger has been a known hit-or-miss hassle for 5 years or so BUT - not one of the many other phone companies ever bothered to try to fix the problem. Huawei, HTC, LG, Google -- nothing stopped them from solving this years ago...
And of course having the landing magnets means - cases attach better - you can easily attach the phone to a car mount (that also charges) - you can easily attach the phone to things like magnetic tripod mounts.
That's how you get to a trillion dollar company -- by fixing small irritations one at a time, rather than simply accepting them.
And if you don't want want to pay for that convenience, you can still get a $5 Qi charger at Ikea, or a cheap USB-C brick.
