This is the MagSafe battery pack Apple should be | Tech News

Every iPhone in Apple’s present vary has MagSafe, the magnetic ring constructed into every gadget that permits you to join wi-fi chargers – but the one MagSafe battery pack Apple sells is solely appropriate with the iPhone Air.

So, why doesn’t Apple make any battery add-ons for the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone 17e or the iPhone 16? It’s a query I’ve been pondering since I began testing the PowerCapsule, a magnetic energy bank from Twelve South.

I’ve been utilizing this battery-boosting accent for a month with my iPhone 16, in addition to the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL, which has Pixelsnap, an Android model of MagSafe. The charger works with any iPhone with MagSafe and is licensed for fast Qi2 wi-fi charging that the majority now assist, in addition to the Pixel 10 sequence. That means it may charge a cellphone at speeds of up to 15W.

The Twelve South PowerCapsule prices £49.99, which is half the price of Apple’s £99 iPhone Air MagSafe Battery, which the US firm has designed to solely match correctly on the back of the slender iPhone Air or one of its official circumstances.

Twelve South’s charger is available in darkish slate or gentle dune colors and snaps simply onto the back of any MagSafe or Pixelsnap cellphone, routinely beginning to charge utilizing its 5,000mAh capability cell. My slate take a look at unit appears to be like the half, with a textured design on one aspect and a rubberised end on the aspect that clips to your cellphone to forestall scratches.

A single button reveals you how charged the gadget is with 4 white lights, whereas a blue gentle reveals it’s delivering charge. You recharge the PowerCapule itself by way of any USB-C charger, with a pretty 1.5m braided cable included in the box.

The premise of snapping a battery pack onto your cellphone to charge is quite simple and helpful given the comparatively short, day-long battery life of many smartphones. Yet Apple solely made a common MagSafe battery pack for a short period, discontinuing it in 2023.

Perhaps Apple thought fashionable iPhones have good enough battery life that the firm didn’t need to offer a magnetic charging pack anymore – however then in September 2025, the iPhone Air model resurrected the line up, and was a clear signal Apple was admitting the slim iPhone Air didn’t have the endurance of the iPhone 17 fashions due to its smaller battery.

If you’ve got any MagSafe iPhone, then the PowerCapsule is very straightforward to make use of, but it surely has a couple of neat hidden tips up its sleeve. Not solely are you able to charge the charger whereas it’s related to a cellphone, powering up each units directly, however it may additionally be charging a cellphone whereas moreover topping up one other cellphone or accent by way of USB-C, similar to AirPods.

If you see your self doing this commonly, you may need to go for the 10,000mAh model, which is surprisingly however pleasingly solely £10 more at £59.99. This beefier option may also charge at up to 30W wired – simply be aware it’ll be noticeably thicker and heavier than the slender 5,000mAh model I examined, which has enough juice to refill most of an iPhone battery once you hit the pink.

As a small, gentle, easy MagSafe charger, you may’t go improper with the Twelve South PowerCapsule. At £49.99, it’s a peace of thoughts buy to charge up and keep in your bag and even a denims pocket. It’ll be able to go once you’re out and about and immediately realise your cellphone is about to die.

Apple should be making a MagSafe energy pack for all its iPhones. In the meantime, this one fills the hole properly.

Buy the Twelve South PowerCapsule from Amazon