iPhone 15 Pro MagSafe vs Wired

[Andy_2341]

I know this debate is as old as MagSafe itself probably, but I’m still curious. My dad and I both got identical iPhone 15 Pro’s in late July. I’ve primarily charge mine by wire with an 80% limit. He primarily charges his by MagSafe/Qi pads. I have 63 cycles and 98.82% battery health according to the analytics while his has 43 cycles and 98.82% health. I game on mine somewhat often and have only ever let the battery drop to 10% one time. He never games and places it on the pad whenever he sits down by it, so it usually has higher than 40% charge. I’m trying to figure out if there is a causation in the MagSafe pad and not a correlation because of his charging patterns.

 

[azhava]

Obsessing over the battery health of my phone isn't something I'm interested in doing. I use it, and charge it when I need to - usually overnight on MagSafe. I use Optimized Charging, but no % limit. 95+% of my charging is done on MagSafe, but I'll use cables or power packs when I'm away from home/traveling, and top it off whenever I have the chance/feel the need.

My phones are usually around 79-80% battery health after 3 years, but at that point I'm ready to trade them in and upgrade anyways so I don't care. If I want to go beyond 3 years with it, I'll get a new battery put in it.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Thank you for putting the “Who Cares” option on the poll. False duality is a real irritation - I don’t care if my battery lasts 400 cycles or 1,000 cycles; if it means I have to pay attention to every time I charge it. It goes on a MagSafe by my bed, in the car, and on my desk. The iPhone 12 Pro is about 3.5 years old, and the battery’s at 84%. Works for me.

 

[JonMPLS]

Just one data point: MagSafe since day one. 170 cycles; 100% health.

 

[normanfox]

iphone 14 PM using Magsafe for 2 years 96% health, maintaining charged between 20% and 80%. I am not a power user.

 

[Snørrbjørg]

.

 

[FranApple]

Obsessing over the battery health of my phone isn't something I'm interested in doing. I use it, and charge it when I need to - usually overnight on MagSafe. I use Optimized Charging, but no % limit. 95+% of my charging is done on MagSafe, but I'll use cables or power packs when I'm away from home/traveling, and top it off whenever I have the chance/feel the need.

My phones are usually around 79-80% battery health after 3 years, but at that point I'm ready to trade them in and upgrade anyways so I don't care. If I want to go beyond 3 years with it, I'll get a new battery put in it.

I upgrade every year so I really don't care much. I'm also overnight on MagSafe.

I have noticed though a lot of car chargers can be pretty bad at heat management. My phone has heated up more than once to the point where either stopped charging. That can't be good for the battery.

 

[CMoore515]

I used MagSafe everyday on my former 15 Pro Max, had ~226 cycles and was at 100% battery health when I traded it in.

Matter of fact, I've used MagSafe since it was released alongside the 12 series. It didn't degrade my batteries at all.

 

[David9962000]

I would use the one that creates less heat on the devices.

 

[Lexio]

I charged my 15PM for one year only with MagSafe and it had after that time a better battery health then my 14PM which I charged one year only via cable. so I continue now to charge my 16PM via MagSafe.

 

[Andeddu]

Makes a negligible difference. I have used my regular 13 exclusively on MagSafe for almost 2 years and it’s at 88% battery health. I charge once each night. My 6S and 8 were exclusively charged via 5w wired and ended up at 82% and 84% battery health respectively. I expect my regular 13 will be within that kind of range when it’s 2 years old.

 

[azhava]

All the "studies" I've seen that compare the impact of wired vs wireless charging have been shoddy at best and completely useless at worst. I'll give it more credibility when somebody decides to do it right - have two groups of 10-20 identical phones each, all tested beforehand to ensure their initial battery capacities are the same. Run them for at least a year under the exact same conditions - same usage, same type of usage, same climate conditions/temperatures during use/storage, etc. One group charged exclusively wireless, the other group charged exclusively wired, with similar wattage used for all. All done in the same facility by the same researchers.

Comparing self-reported, anecdotal accounts of phone use/charging with no controls over how they're used or the environmental conditions they were used in is no more accurate than throwing darts at a dartboard while drunk and blindfolded. They're junk studies and don't prove anything.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I wirelessly charged my iPhone 12 for 2 years and the battery health deteriorated massively (80%) compared the previous and more recent iPhones I have used. The phone used to get rather warm too which concerned me. I charged my 13 Pro Max solely wired and the battery health was 91% after 2 years and now I have a 16 Pro Max, I have no intention of ever charging it via MagSafe. I don't need to either as I don't require fast charging.

 

[eduardodfj]

It's a moot debate. Convenience always wins. Who is going to go the more inconvenient route (the cable and its plugging and unplugging every single time) to improve a certain percentage points on a metric ("battery health") that is dubious to start with?

Yes, I know, I know, some people do. But most people doesn't, and by the time Apple issues an iPhone with no ports whatsoever (just like the Apple Watch), there will be very few complaints.

 

[Jackbequickly]

I now use the Anker Qi2 puck with a 10watt USB-C charger. Anker recommends at least a 25watt charger. When I pick my phone up in the morning, there is little to no feeling of it being warm. Feel like the 10 watt charger does not charge fast but there is no heat degradation.

 

[fatTribble]

It's a moot debate. Convenience always wins. Who is going to go the more inconvenient route (the cable and its plugging and unplugging every single time) to improve a certain percentage points on a metric ("battery health") that is dubious to start with?

Yes, I know, I know, some people do. But most people doesn't, and by the time Apple issues an iPhone with no ports whatsoever (just like the Apple Watch), there will be very few complaints.

I always plug in but it has nothing to do with battery life or convenience.
I just don’t see any benefit of a big puck connector that’s still connected to a wire.

 

[Jackbequickly]

I always plug in but it has nothing to do with battery life or convenience.
I just don’t see any benefit of a big puck connector that’s still connected to a wire.

Some think it saves on wear on the USB-C socket.

 

[klasma]

I have 63 cycles and 98.82% battery health according to the analytics while his has 43 cycles and 98.82% health.

That’s too few cycles to infer anything. Batteries vary to some degree in their initial capacity from the factory, and probably also in how quickly they degrade. Hence identical usage may nevertheless yield different remaining capacity down the line.

Wireless charging is in principle worse because it heats the device more, assuming the same wattage. But conversely, wired fast charging at higher wattage is likely worse again.

 

[shadowboi]

My current phone doesn’t support Magsafe but I think it is a very convenient sort of tech. Afaik it works via induction magnets tech and limited to 15w which isn’t too much comparing to wired “default” 20w from newer Apple bricks which should be in theory safer.

Limiting heat during charging can be done thru either putting phone on airplane mode and disabling wifi or just turning it off (you can even make a turn off shortcut not to click button every time), I tested it with 11 Pro and cheap Baseus qi charging pad limited to 5w, almost no heat generated.

Also the thing is you can limit Magsafe charging speed by using different brick, ie if you can find something around or below 15w from reputable brand, it would be safer than wire.

To add, Magsafe charging is practically indestructible. You have less chance of destroying rather weak USB C port and can use it for something more professional than just “charge”, such as backing up your photos and data.

Another thing is that I doubt anyone uses their phone while Magsafe charging as it is less convenient than wire, gives better discipline to “let phone rest for a while”. For than exact reason it is better to have two iPhones, so that you always stay connected when one of them is charging

 

[PeteS1963]

I use a MagSafe portable battery pack just to occasionally top up my phone. After 2 yrs my iPhone 14 Pro was at 86%. I am a relatively heavy user. Mind, I was surprised to see my daughters hand-me-down iPhone 12 still at 82%. And she really hammers that phone, often running it down to zero, plus lots of MagSafe charging.

 

[Hamsterhjulet]

I've primarily used a MagSafe charger for my old iPhone 13 Pro Max and after 2 years of use (charging every second day or so) I hit 87% battery health. 87% after 2 years is more than acceptable for me and don't know if it would have been any better with a wired charger.

 

[nlkccom]

I used MagSafe everyday on my former 15 Pro Max, had ~226 cycles and was at 100% battery health when I traded it in.

Matter of fact, I've used MagSafe since it was released alongside the 12 series. It didn't degrade my batteries at all.

Do you use the Apple official MagSafe or 3rd party ones?

 

[nburwell]

I have been using Apple’s MagSafe charger on my 15 Pro for about a year now. I had my device replaced in December, so I’m at 93% battery. I’m not going to worry about it and will replace the battery when I need to. But more than likely, I’ll upgrade to the 17 before I have to replace the battery (unless I damage the phone again and get ESR via AC+).

Long story short, I’m not concerned about it.

 

[ThailandToo]

Really it’s no different to just use a cable. The MagSafe all has a cable also. In addition, the MagSafe cable wasn’t long enough. I got the new one and my iPhone was so hot and took a long time to charge with MagSafe. With a USBC cable, not so. I trust USBC more than MagSafe. Where is the truly wireless charging that was rumored over 12 years ago????

 

[azhava]

Some think it saves on wear on the USB-C socket.

Man, I would sure hope that the USB-C jack is sturdy enough to handle being plugged/unplugged a few hundred times over 2 to 3 years. 🤣

That has nothing to do with it for me - I have a MagSafe charger on my nightstand because it's easy and convenient when I stumble half-asleep into bed in a dark room. No searching for cables or turning on lights to wake my wife up, just get the phone somewhere near the charger and feel the magnets click it into place. Quick and easy one-hand operation. And I like the "nightstand mode", which turns on whenever it senses motion so I can see the time and temperature (in red, so it doesn't blow my eyes out in the dark).