Apple granted patent for a new MagSafe design on iPhone

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Granted by The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office this Tuesday, Apple describes a new iteration of its MagSafe charging technology for the iPhone. This new patent has been filed by the company following numerous rumors of future iPhone models without a Lightning port.

In the patent, Apple describes a three-pinned ‌MagSafe‌ charger, similar to the ones found in older MacBook computers. This new method uses multiple different pin designs to connect the charger to the device. The patent shows a pin that is rounded in one image, while another shows a more flat-surface design. However, it’s important to note that the patent doesn't mention the ‌iPhone‌ by name. The image in the filing depicts what seems to be the bottom of an ‌iPhone‌, with a ‌MagSafe‌ charger concept connecting to it. Based on a set of magnets, ‌MagSafe‌ allows the device to easily detach from the charger if it gets tripped on or pulled.

With the iPhone 12 lineup, Apple reintroduced ‌MagSafe‌ in the form of a large circular magnet on the back of the device. Currently, Apple is marketing ‌MagSafe‌ on the ‌iPhone‌ as a place to charge and attach various accessories. This week, reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (reliability: 80.95%) poured cold water on hopes that Apple would switch the ‌iPhone‌ to a USB-C connector anytime soon. Kuo states that USB-C has lower specifications compared to Apple’s current Lightning and ‌MagSafe‌ chargers. He also specifically said that if an ‌iPhone‌ in the future abandons Lightning, it would immediately adopt a portless design with ‌MagSafe‌. While it seems unlikely that Apple will create another connector for its devices, this reveals that the company has indeed been studying the possibility of replacing or removing the Lightning port from the iPhone.

Apple has been pushing the idea of a world with only wireless solutions since the introduction of AirPods, so it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if they removed the only remaining port on the iPhone.

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Published to Apple Scoop on 6th March, 2021.