One of the most surprising aspects of the new iPhone 16e is its lack of MagSafe. MagSafe is an Apple-created tech that’s so good that the Wireless Power Consortium adopted it as the basis of the Qi2 wireless charging standard used by non-Apple devices. But it’s not on the iPhone 16e, and that’s by design.
In his review of the iPhone 16e, John Gruber states that the phone’s target audience doesn’t care about MagSafe, according to Apple representatives he spoke to. Users of the 16e “exclusively” charge through a cable, and if they did use inductive charging, they don’t care that the 16e is limited to the slower 7.5W Qi charging speed. For comparison, the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro have MagSafe that charges at 25W if you use a 30W or higher adapter, and they have the magnets that the 16e doesn’t have to ensure a proper connection.
Whether that’s true or not, MagSafe still feels like an odd feature to omit. MagSafe is a marquee Apple feature, not only because it offers convenient, fast charging, but also because the magnets involved offer non-charging functionality. For example, I use a car mount that holds my iPhone 16 using the MagSafe magnets. I can’t use the iPhone 16e with my mount.
Apple’s reasoning sounds like marketing rationalization. We know that MagSafe doesn’t interfere with Apple’s new C1 modem as was speculated, and MagSafe probably doesn’t cost that much for Apple to implement. What is clear is that if MagSafe is a key factor in your buying decision, you have to step up from the iPhone 16e to the iPhone 16 or 16 Pro–which might be the real reason why Apple left it out.
If you want an iPhone 16e with MagSafe, you can add a MagSafe case, but you’ll still only get 7.5W charging speeds. Learn more about the iPhone 16e, the differences between the iPhone 16e and the iPhone SE it replaced, the 5 things Apple killed to make room for the iPhone 16e, and the details on MagSafe.
