No Thanks on the MagSafe
My wife and I upgraded recently to iPhone 12 Pro Max phones. It was exciting since we were on iPhone 7+ and 6+ phones.
One of the big selling features was wireless charging. So we gave it a try and purchased Apple’s $39 MagSafe wireless charging puck.
Let me cut to the chase: It’s a silly, worthless, inconvenient gimmick.
Yesterday my wife ordered me to take them back to Apple and get our money back. It was not enough for her that I just lose the item in the drawer. She felt angry and offended by the waste of $39 for such a silly thing.
Our experience was:
- It took longer to attach the magnetic puck then did a simple wire.
- It took longer to charge.
- It left the phone feeling hot anytime it was connected.
- It fell off easily, especially when picking the phone up in the dark from a nightstand.
- It offered absolutely no rational benefit over a cable.
So I trudged to the local Apple store and requested a refund, holding the thing up by its tail and referring to it as a “Nièchǐ dòngwù” as I handed it to the Apple representative.
He asked me why I would return it, it was the latest and best technology, and there was actually a line of people who wanted to buy them…they were just out. I explained to him it was an expensive, inconvenient, slow thing that was larger and heavier than a cable to take with me when traveling. He demonstrated how easily it just clicked on. I demonstrated how you had to rotate it to precisely the correct orientation before it stuck. He demonstrated how well it stuck to his phone. I picked the phone up by the cable and he gave a horrified look, worried that his MagSafe phone would fall off and smash to the floor. I smiled, and stated: “I feel the same as you just did…every time I reach for the phone on my nightstand in the dark.
The return process is surprisingly full of hassles. He asked if I had the receipt and I explained that I bought it online, and he could just find it by looking up my account. Unfortunately, he stated, for returns they can’t do that. So I pulled out my iPhone and looked up the order and gave him the “W” number. Ten minutes later (he had to do a lot of something on his iPhone…perhaps Tim Cook himself has to approve all returns of the devices..he stated that a credit would be posted to my account. (Note: It’s been a while and no sign of any credit…why do credits show up so much slower than charges?)
I honestly can’t figure out why people are so enamored by wireless charging, especially the MagSafe puck.
I hear rumors that Apple is considering eliminating the Lightning Jack from iPhones. Do they actually think I will enjoy carrying a heavy puck in my suitcase so I can hold it and the phone ion may hand while on an airplane?
Apple has done a lot of good things, but the MagSafe puck rhymes with ____.