The iPhone 16e lacks support for MagSafe charging, an omission that has dominated conversations about Apple’s cheapest iPhone model this week. Initially, there was speculation that MagSafe might have been excluded due to interference with Apple’s C1 chip, which is its first-ever cellular modem designed for the iPhone.
Yesterday, Apple confirmed that the C1 has nothing to do with the omission of MagSafe on the iPhone 16e. New testing conducted by an iPhone case accessory manufacturer and shared with 9to5Mac adds more detail to the situation.
iPhone 16e MagSafe and C1 testing
The accessory manufacturer ran two tests. First, it focused on wireless charging speeds. Even though the iPhone 16e itself doesn’t feature MagSafe support, you can still use a third-party case with built-in magnets to achieve similar functionality. If you do so, this testing reveals that you’ll receive noticeably higher wireless charging speeds.
In its testing, the case manufacturer found that the iPhone 16e has highly variable wireless charging rates when charging without a MagSafe-enabled case and magnetic alignment. This can largely be attributed to the fact that it’s harder to get a precise placement on the wireless charger without that magnetic alignment.
iPhone 16e charging speeds with no case and manual alignment:
Cycle 1: 4.2W
Cycle 2: 5.0W
Cycle 3: 4.7W
Cycle 4: 5.9W
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