An Apple portable battery would be MagSafe’s first truly useful accessory

Last year Apple resurrected the MagSafe moniker alongside the iPhone 12, reworking the MacBook branding into a new system of magnet-centric add-ons for its 2020 roster of phones. And if this leak is to be believed, we’re all set to get a new accessory for the line. 

It was certainly an interesting prospect and something that help set the iPhone 12 apart from the ever-growing list of best Android phones. Apple launched a number of its own MagSafe compatible products, including cases, a wireless charging puck and a foldable place to juice up both a phone and Apple Watch.

We’ve also seen some third-party MagSafe accessories begin to appear, with Belkin launching both a car mount and another multi-device charger.

I have used pretty much all of these add-ons and I like them, without ever being blown away: the MagSafe Duo sits by my bed to charge my Apple tech at night, while the Belkin car mount does its job well when using Google Maps. They’re both fairly basic though and we’ve seen plenty of similar accessories before on other phones.

But if these leaks, from Bloomberg’s usually highly-reliable Mark Gurman, are to be believed then we might be about to see the first truly ‘must-have’ MagSafe product in the form of a battery case made by Apple itself.

According to the report, the battery pack would attach magnetically to the iPhone 12’s rear and juice up the internal battery wirelessly.

Gurman states that some prototypes of the product had a white rubber body and it wouldn’t cover the whole phone to offer protection. This sets it apart from previous battery cases Apple has sold. The report also mentions issues Apple has had with the production, including the attached iPhone indicating the pack is overheating.

While these latter issues certainly don’t give me the impression this add-on is close to release, it does seem like this is the sort of product that would make MagSafe become far more of a complete idea.

Quickly snapping a minimal battery pack to your phone when you’re off out and have forgotten to charge makes complete sense. Being wireless should also give it the upper-hand over typical battery chargers when it comes to ease of use.

Of course, even if this is real there are still many questions to be answered. The price would be the biggest issue, as the previous MagSafe accessories from Apple have been anything but cheap. The MagSafe Duo charger, for example, sells for a whopping £129/$129. That’s a near 60% mark up on similar products we’ve seen for Android phones.

Whether this product turns into a reality remains to be seen, but I would certainly be intrigued if it did and it would give MagSafe the push it really needs.