MagSafe charger is Apple’s iPhone 12 wireless charging solution – CNET [CNET]

This story is part of Apple Event, our full coverage of the latest news from Apple headquarters.

When it comes to chargers, you can always count on Apple to do things a little differently. Even though more recently it’s embraced USB-C, over the years the company has relied on a variety of different proprietary chargers to juice up its devices — some of which have become extremely recognizable. One is the MagSafe charger, which use magnetic pins to connect the charging cable with the device, and is best known as a crucial accessory for the MacBook. Apple phased it out in 2016, but it lives to charge another day.

At Apple’s iPhone 12 launch event on Tuesday, the company’s MagSafe technology got a second chance at life serving a completely different device. This time around, Apple showed off MagSafe as a dedicated technology for its new iPhone 12. It relies on a wound wire coil, accommodates magnets and maintains compatibility with existing chargers to deliver up to 15 watts of power to your phone.

This time around, MagSafe serves as a magnetic attachment system for different accessories, all of which can snap right onto the back of the iPhone 12. These include a bunch of different cases, as well as other accessories that can sit on top of those cases, including a MagSafe wallet and charger.

For Apple Watch users, there’s also a MagSafe Duo charger that can charge both your watch and iPhone at the same time. Third-party accessories will be available too. According to Apple, Belkin is already working on a couple of options, including a car mount and a multicharger dock.

MagSafe charging is just one of things that Apple announced at Tuesday’s event — be sure to check out the full product lineup including the iPhone 12, HomePod Mini and more.