As I was shopping around for a MagSafe desk stand for my iPhone 12 Pro, I realized that I simply didn't want to pay a lot of money for something so I looked at what I had lying around at home. Turns out, I had everything that I needed already.
...And it works great!
Here's what I did. Took about 5 minutes:
Some thoughts on how this worked:
...And it works great!
Here's what I did. Took about 5 minutes:
- Take any short-arm car window mount and attach it to your desk.
- Suction mounts with a soft (gel-like) mount work best for this and I recommend getting a model with a lever to secure it. The one I used is an old random third party brand that no longer is available but there are plenty on Amazon for $10-$15 if you don't have one.
- Attach a magnet to the center-rear of the MagSafe cable.
- Most of these mounts come with a magnet with a sticky (3M type) backing. I ran out of these a while ago, but I had a metal plate without a backing lying around and attached it to the MagSafe cable using some 3M gel tape that I could always remove at a later time.
- If you don't have one and don't want to make your own, you can buy them on Amazon for ~$5.
- Attach the MagSafe cable with the attached backing to the car mount.
- Pop your iPhone 12 on it!
Some thoughts on how this worked:
- When I was experimenting, I noticed that the MagSafe adapter itself can be attached without a backing to the dashboard mount. However, this magnetic attachment was weak and as a result did not hold. I often picked up my iPhone and took the MagSafe cable with it. Attaching the metal plate fixed this as these plates are significantly stronger.
- Apple notes that MagSafe charging is slower and can be slowed further if the iPhone overheats while charging. This is apparent and as a result I keep a USB-C powered Lightning cable on the side of my desk for fast charging if I need to. However, throughout the day this mount keeps me in the 90% range comfortably between uses.
- Don't put it too close to your keyboard... My pinky kept hitting it when I did that!
- A suction mount solves the issue brought up by other users on MacRumors forums about needing a weighted base.
- I don't believe that car mounts with long necks will be suitable for this, having a short neck helps keep it in place and lets me use it while it is mounted or remove it.
