The MagSafe Duo is a Favourite Mac Travel Accessories for the Apple Era and the Decay of the Lightning Life
If your Lightning accessories aren’t essential to you, there’s still a lot of things you can already have if that’s the case.
Things have been terrific if you have been living in the Lightning world for the past decade like I have. I’m not ashamed to say it: I’m sad that Lightning is finally going away.
And even at home, the Lightning Life has been reliable. I don’t worry that Apple’s cables will randomly stop charging my devices, since I have been lucky to avoid some of theDurability issues that are usually associated with Lightning cables. The MagSafe Duo and solid magnets of Apple mean that my phone and Apple watch almost always start charging when I drop them on their charging spots.
Not only are the cords themselves easy to travel with but the Lightning standard also created a generation of reliable and portable travel accessories. It powers one of my favorite Apple devices ever: the MagSafe Duo. In spite of Dieter Bohn’s middling impressions, I picked one up on sale and, frankly, I adore it. It is a convenient way to charge my gadgets whenever I am at my desk. When I travel, I can just fold up the MagSafe Duo and slip it into a small pocket in my backpack so that I can easily charge my devices at my final destination.
If you don’t need your Lighting cable anymore, then it’s possible to either sell or donate it to someone else. Otherwise, Apple, Best Buy, and others will take them for free recycling.
There could be a sudden influx of e-waste as Apple users swap out their devices for the new iPhones 15 and 16. One of Apple’s main arguments was the need for Europeans to switch to theusb-C format for their phones.
How Should You Charge Your iPhone? A Survey of Various USB-C Cables for Daily Charging, Data Transfer, and Carplay in Your Home
For Apple CarPlay users: unless your vehicle already supports wireless CarPlay, you’re going to need a USB-C cable, either USB-C-to-C or A-to-C, depending on the age of your car. Otherwise, MagSafe mounts could make operating your iPhone in your car cleaner and safer.
If you’re looking for a way to supplement charging and use of your phone while you’re not using it, MagSafe is a great alternative because they are placed neatly in your home. wired charging is more efficient than wireless, it is less likely to heat up the iPhone, and it is easier to charge with theusb-c.
USB-C is a mess. Data transfer is slower when cables are used but fast-charging a MacBook Pro is possible. Others can do data transfer quickly but are not very flexible for daily charging. It is difficult to tell which cables do what, despite efforts at labeling.
Apple has made us buy new cables before, but this time, you probably already have the things you need to charge your new iPhone. While the 15 and 15 Pro do come with a C-to-C cable in their box, Apple stopped including bricks in the next iteration of the phone.
Speaking of travel: you might be tempted to look for a power-only charging cable, but that’s outside the USB-C spec; any power-only cable is improperly wired by definition and not worth the risk. Better to carry your own charger and never plug your phone into someone else’s USB port.
As an iPhone user, you might already have Lightning cables set up in each room and would need just to replace the cable while keeping the power adapter where it is. But if you only have the wall warts and somehow have no USB-C cables to use with them (except for the one that will come in the iPhone 15 box), then it’s time to go shopping.
It’s fine for the cable to come in the box. It’s just short. A six- or 10-foot cable is much nicer to charge with. A 10 foot charging cable is under $16.
Unless you’re an ultra-minimalist or you’re buying a cable for your travel kit, get separate cables for your daily charging and data transfer, preferably in different colors.