8 votes

Apple's MagSafe Duo charger is slower than it's MagSafe charger

Posted by unknown user
Tags: apple, magsafe, wireless charging, consumer electronics, author.mark gurman, source.twitter
https://twitter.com/markgurman/status/1328924718603272192
@Mark Gurman:
Wow, Apple has just updated the MagSafe Duo page. The $129 charger only gets you 11 watts for charging with a 20 watt brick, or 14 watts with a 27 watt brick. That compares to 15 watts you get with the solo MagSafe charger. pic.twitter.com/Z9iWM4PGpU

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Mark Gurman

4 comments

  1. [4]
    unknown user
    Link
    A story in three tweets: https://twitter.com/markgurman/status/1328924718603272192 https://twitter.com/markgurman/status/1328926269233188866 https://twitter.com/markgurman/status/1328940879000842242

    A story in three tweets:

    Wow, Apple has just updated the MagSafe Duo page. The $129 charger only gets you 11 watts for charging with a 20 watt brick, or 14 watts with a 27 watt brick. That compares to 15 watts you get with the solo MagSafe charger.

    To make things more interesting, Apple doesn’t even sell a 27 watt charger. They sell a 30 watt, another $50. So altogether, this MagSafe Duo is a $180 charger. Probably the most expensive two device charger on the market — and you don’t even get full 15 watt fast charging.

    I was really looking forward to the MagSafe Duo but given the inferior charging speeds, likely inability to perform well with existing chargers, compounded by lack of charger in the box, it’s just not worth it. Looking forward to the Belkin 3 device charger instead.

    4 votes
    1. [3]
      unknown user
      Link Parent
      On one hand, I can kind of see the point of making the MagSafe Duo charger slower. It's like the old clock-speed CPU comparisons circa the 2000's (or now, perhaps, given Apple Silicon)—faster...

      On one hand, I can kind of see the point of making the MagSafe Duo charger slower. It's like the old clock-speed CPU comparisons circa the 2000's (or now, perhaps, given Apple Silicon)—faster charging and more heat damages batteries and degrades battery health over the long term. The MagSafe Duo is clearly designed as a nightstand charger, why is speed as important here? In fact, generally, I want my nightstand charger to charge as slow as possible (to a point) to minimise battery degradation.

      Evaluating this product on a single metric feels somewhat misguided. It's not a charger designed for use during the day when it might be more time-critical for the battery to top up faster.

      4 votes
      1. [2]
        teaearlgraycold
        Link Parent
        This shouldn't be a matter of the charger. It should be handled by the device. IIRC my iPhone will charge more slowly when it realizes it's doing an overnight charge. The user has the option to...

        In fact, generally, I want my nightstand charger to charge as slow as possible (to a point) to minimise battery degradation.

        This shouldn't be a matter of the charger. It should be handled by the device. IIRC my iPhone will charge more slowly when it realizes it's doing an overnight charge. The user has the option to disable that, though. There's no reason to praise Apple's wattage choice on this new charger.

        3 votes
        1. unknown user
          Link Parent
          Are you thinking of battery health monitoring in iPhones, Watches, and AirPods? My understanding is that they'll charge up to 80% when they recognise it's an overnight charge, but otherwise the...

          IIRC my iPhone will charge more slowly when it realizes it's doing an overnight charge. The user has the option to disable that, though.

          Are you thinking of battery health monitoring in iPhones, Watches, and AirPods? My understanding is that they'll charge up to 80% when they recognise it's an overnight charge, but otherwise the charging speed is the same, although approaching 80% it'll asymptotically approach zero—which is a side effect of reaching the desired charge state, rather than an intentional decision to slow the rate of charge.

          I'm not aware of Apple's software explicitly slowing the rate of charge as a first order effect for overnighting, happy to read data that says otherwise however.

          1 vote