Apple Magsafe: A strong alternative to USB-C
During the last few months, I´ve been using the Apple Magsafe charger on my iPhone, and the main reason for it is pretty simple, for the first time ever, I think this is a better version of wireless charging, my name is Charles Redstone and today I am going to review the Magsafe charger and why its better than wireless charging and, even, USB C for the iPhone, take a sit and lets get started.
I used USB C in 2017, and I hate it since.
I was one of the early adopters of USB C in phones, I enjoyed it, it was a really good upgrade of the micro usb, but there was something about it that made it feel weird, around that time, the only things that had that kind of port were the MacBooks and some phones, but that’s it, if I wanted to use the full capabilities of USB C I had to buy a really expensive adapter of this “new technology”, so in the end it was better for me to stay on micro usb, only 5 years later, I can say that more and more things and devices are really using USB C to the point of it being another port alongside micro usb and lightning, not a replacement.
However, the tech media and even the E.U. claim that this port is the future for all your devices, yet, I don’t understand it, and I’m pretty sure that both manufactures, users and even the whole E.U. won’t understand it, and the main reason is the difference between USB 4/Thunderbolt 3/4 and USB C, they look the same but aren’t the same, for example, USB C can be used for charge and data transfer at limited speed (like the normal iPhone 15 lineup at USB 2.0), however, USB 4 can have top speed of 40 GBPS, and thunderbolt 4 can support two 4k displays while thunderbolt 3 only supports one while both supply usb 3.2 speeds, and guess what, all these different thunderbolt and usb look the exact same, why?
If they look the same but aren’t the same, why make people believe they are the same?
So, as you can see on the picture, this is a real headache, I mean, I’m not that kind of weird “professional” who needs an especific port on their machine, but I’m really glad and proud that I know the blue USB port means that its supports faster 3.0 speeds, and that my MacBook supports thunderbolt 2 instead of normal thunderbolt just by looking at the port, not for having to read many websites and manuals looking if my device was certified by the brand with intel, and before someone comes here and says that I’m wrong, think of this, you buy a thunderbolt 4 device like an ssd, but you have a usb c cable, you can start to see the trouble here, it fits perfectly, but it shouldn’t be put there, and in the end, if you want all the capabilities of your device, you will end up purchasing another cable, so where is the benefit?
Anyway, my point is, its better than nothing, sure, and the way it works its cool, but even with that, I think there will always be room for improvement, and I’m counting the days until a new, consistent, resistant and cheap port releases, it will probably still be usb c, but probably with another name at faster speeds, but I really like the way its going, however, in my opinion the only trouble here is, the iPhone.
Not for the reason you believe
Before we get started, I asked my instagram followers what port they have or use daily, and to my surprise, the vast majority answered USB C, and this is really good, this port is really good, however, I hate the USB C, at least, on the iPhone, I mean, who asked for this? I think youtubers and so called “influencers” because, come on, you really had to just stay quiet and let users be happy, if an iPhone user goes to a party, they don’t ask their friends for a charger and go “uh that is type c and I use lightning”, of course not, the real iPhone user ALWAYS carry their lightning cable because they now they will need it anytime after they unplug their phone, if they don’t carry it around, its like natural selection, or a canonical event, you can’t interfere as it will generate repercussions.
And let me explain why, as an iPhone user, I hate the adoption of usb c, for example, the MacBook and iPad were great ideas for usb c, why? because they either are purchased by non apple users that use usb c, or by people who already had an iPhone or another device of apple with lightning so doesn’t have many troubles with it, but the iPhone going entirely to usb c is a wrong move, first of all, Apple locked it down to 2.0 speeds on the normal iPhone 15, and the “thunderbolt” speeds are only for the iPhone 15 pro, so the real advantage is only if you are a pro, meaning that more than half the iPhone owners don’t want, care or like the usb c port, why? because they already got used to lightning, they already spent hundreds of dollars on a dongle many years ago and if it still works they won’t give it away, meaning that the only thing they have to buy new was the iPhone, and that was the special thing about it, in fact, one of the reasons why they removed the charger of the box, but now, you have to purchase new chargers and new dongles, and that, in my opinion, sucks.
Sure, now you can use your MacBook charger for your iPhone, but if I’m honest, I don’t like having to use the same charger for all my devices, the different ports and chargers are an state of mind and calm, because I know that I shouldnt use the same cable for charging my phone to charge my Tesla, why? First, because I don’t own a Tesla and second, because I don’t want to deal with voltages and regulations, easy as that, but anyway, I think that in five years I will appreciate the adoption of usb c in the iPhone, but now, in the present, I still hate its implementation on the iPhone, in fact, I believe that apple feel like me about the usb c, being that the reason why they took years and legal intervention to adopt it, and because they knew this could happen, they already provide us a modern charging and transfer method for the iPhone, on a way that only apple could accomplish.
MagSafe and Airdrop: A duo that works perfectly
Want to transfer huge files easy and fast? Just airdrop them to your Mac, iPad or another iPhone, in a matter of seconds you will have the same file via wireless transfer, like magic, and the funny thing that makes it so Apple is that, it only works on apple products, and before you start, let me tell you, the people who complains about the “slow speed of lightning”, are Apple “pro” users that works on MacBooks that support airdrop, and sure, maybe sometimes airdrop fails, but in recent years they are really polishing it to the point of being a valid way of transferring data, but anyway, that’s about the data transfer thing, for charging they made something cool, MagSafe.
MagSafe could be the true alternative to Lightning
Not because its proprietary, but because its so smart it works, I mean, for many years we have had the wireless charging, but it is slow and you have to be really careful about the position of your phone, I know it because I’ve used it in the past with many devices and remember that, if I moved them just a little bit, they stopped charging, and after many years, of all the brands, Apple found the solution, magnets.
Its so simple that it works
I love the MagSafe charger, not only for its cool animation when you place your phone on it, but for its simplicity, I don’t have to worry about seeing where the port is located if I take my phone without watching, or seeing if I don’t accidentally bend the port of the phone, neither if I placed the phone on the right place, you bring your phone near the charger, and voila, it attaches magnetically to it and starts charging, that’s it, nothing more complicated than that, and after many years, I can finally have the confidence of charging my phone wirelessly, just enter my office and put my phone on it, I can hold it on any angle as it rotates so I don’t need to worry, if you want to game, just turn it, want to write something, turn it, its a pretty cool feature.
With Standby, its the perfect HomePod with Screen
Thanks to iOS 17, we get the standby feature, meaning that if you put your iPhone horizontally on a MagSafe charger or dock, it will become a nightstand, or as I like to call it, a free HomePod with screen, you see the latest notifications on the screen, you can control your music on it, you can see worldwide clocks, calendars, stocks, widgets and many more things on it, and the best part, you have Siri, meaning that it can convert your iPhone on a “touchscreen” HomePod, I’ve been using it many times since last month, and it was the only reason why I updated to iOS 17 in the first place, but thanks to MagSafe, I only put my phone on it and the magic happens, its wonderful.
That’s it, its good, and in my opinion, way better than USB-C for charging support
I mean, Android users (and apparently, my readers) will complain about my opinion, and they should, but you know as well as me, that im speaking with facts and truth, USB C was never meant to be on the iPhone, if they wanted to, they will put it on the phone many years ago, but Apple know users got used to the Lightning port, and now, in my opinion, Lightning has evolved to MagSafe, and personally, when I update to the 15 pro or 16 or whatever model I get, my charger will be MagSafe, and so, with that little history, its time to end, thank you so much for reading this MagSafe VS USB C review, I hope you enjoyed it, as always, my name is Charles Redstone, stay hydrated and have a nice day, I will see you on the next one.
