When Apple introduced the iPhone 12 — the first iPhone with MagSafe — several years ago, it not only introduced a better (faster) way of wirelessly charging your iPhone, it also opened up the door to an entirely new ecosystem of accessories.
Today, there are all different kinds of "MagSafe accessories" — including MagSafe wireless chargers, MagSafe car mounts, MagSafe wallets, MagSafe portable battery packs — that magnetically connect and interact with your iPhone.
Of course, the catch is that older iPhones and all Android smartphones don't support MagSafe. The third-generation iPhone SE, which was released in 2022, doesn't support MagSafe either. So none of those smartphones fully work with these MagSafe accessories. But that doesn't mean they have no utility at all.
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How to Use MagSafe with a non-MagSafe Smartphone
You can buy and add accessories to your old iPhone or Android smartphone that allow it to work with MagSafe accessories, with some limitations. There are a wide variety of magnetic cases you can buy, by the likes of Peak Design and Moment, or you can simply buy a special magnetic adhesive called a MagSafe adapter and stick it to the back of your iPhone. One of our favorites is Mophie's Snap Adapter.
The Mophie Snap Adapter is a MagSafe adapter that you stick to the back of your old iPhone or Android smartphone, or to the back of your smartphone's case. It's sized to perfectly match the MagSafe magnet that's integrated in the back of each of the latest iPhones and thus allows you to any MagSafe accessory with your non-MagSafe smartphone.
If you have a case on your old iPhone or Android smartphone, you can put the Snap Adapter directly on the smartphone or directly on its case — both will work. If your case is particularly thick, it's probably best to put the Snap Adapter on it because it'll have the strongest magnetic connection.
(There are quite a few different MagSafe adapters you can buy, most range in price from around $10 to $20. Mophie's option is just our favorite.)
What are the limitations of a Snap Adapter?
There are really two big benefits to an iPhone that supports MagSafe. First is the magnetic accessories, second is the wireless charging. MagSafe chargers allow natively capable iPhones to charge twice as fast as a normal wireless charger — up to 15 watts when paired with a MagSafe wireless charger instead of the normal 7.5 watts that an iPhone will accept off of a standard Qi charger.
The Snap Adapter, will give your phone magentic capabilities, but it won't allow your phone to charge any faster. And if your smartphone don't support wireless charging — which is any iPhone 8 or earlier — the Snap Adapter won't magically allow it to wireless charge.
Will future Android smartphones support MagSafe?
Surprisingly, yes.
In early 2023, the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) announced a new wireless charging standard called Qi2. It will work very similarly to the current Qi wireless charging standard, but the big difference is that the foundation of Qi2 will be Apple's MagSafe. (Apple is a member of the WPC.)
This means that moving forward any Android smartphone that supports Qi2 standard will have a built-in magnet array that will allow it to work with MagSafe accessories.
The first smartphones that support Qi2 wireless charging are expected to be released by the end of 2023.
