One of the surprise announcements at the iPhone 12 event was the return of MagSafe, albeit under a different form and purpose. Now available as an entirely new line of products, MagSafe accessories take advantage of embedded magnets to make connecting your device to a case, charger, stand, etc, a breeze.
The first MagSafe accessory to be available was the MagSafe charger, a $39 charging solution consisting of a cable and a charging puck, similar in essence to the Apple Watch charger.
The problem is that the puck is not weighted. Try to take the phone off the charger and both the phone and the charger come together. That means that when you magnetically dock your iPhone onto it, removing the iPhone from the charger requires you to use two hands (one to hold the charger in place, and one to unsnap the iPhone), which we’ll all agree is an impossible ask for a first-world country user like you and me.
I lived like this for a couple of weeks until the two-handed action became absolutely unbearable. I had to remedy this nonsense that required way too much from my body.
After consulting with aerospace engineers, astronomers, chemists, quantum physicists, molecular biologists, and the aisle 12 manager of my local Home Depot, I finally found the solution to my problem in the form of double-sided tape.
All jokes aside, sticking double-sided tape under the MagSafe charger to secure it in place on the nightstand has dramatically improved its functionality. I can now snap the phone on and off the puck with one hand, without having the entire charger come with the phone.
An added benefit, which may be a drawback for some, is that the charger is now always at the same spot on my nightstand. That means that I don’t need to aimlessly look for it while hovering my iPhone over the nightstand when going to bed in the middle of the night. I know exactly where it’s at, and hovering my iPhone over the exact spot has become muscle memory.
None of that would have been necessary would Apple have added more weight to the charger to begin with, but that is beyond the point and out of our control anyway.
Some accessories to remedy my specific issue have already started popping up. This aluminum base, for example, adds weight to the charger, making it possible to take the phone off of it with one hand. The problem is that it also adds bulk.
So if like me you want the simplicity of the MagSafe charger without the inconvenience off bulky add-ons, give double-sided tape a try.