Apple MagSafe Battery Pack Review

If you make heavy use of your iPhone 12 and often find the battery running low while you're out and about, the Apple MagSafe Battery Pack ($99) will likely become your favorite new accessory. Small enough to slide into a pocket or bag, the MagSafe Battery Pack adds hours of use to your phone, snapping neatly into place with the aid of precisely positioned magnets. Apple’s external battery solution may seem pricey when compared with other portable chargers and power banks, but its excellent build quality and one-year warranty make it one of the best ways to charge your iPhone on the go, and our Editors’ Choice winner for iPhone 12–compatible external batteries.

Slim and Sturdy
The MagSafe Battery Pack is a small, slightly chunky device that measures 3.75 by 2.5 by 0.43 inches (HWD). It works with every MagSafe-compatible iPhone and fits perfectly on the back of the iPhone 12 mini.

The aesthetic here can be best described as utilitarian. The outer shell is made of a durable white plastic with a gray Apple logo centered in the upper half. The charging face of the battery pack is covered in gray silicone that matches the logo on the other side. A Lightning port and an indicator light are on the bottom edge.

Although the outer shell has a matte finish, it's very slippery and easy to drop, though after several accidental drops, we didn’t notice any scratches. The only damage that occurred was some staining on the silicone charging plate from being attached to a phone in a leather case.

Apple doesn’t offer AppleCare for the MagSafe Battery Pack, but it does include a one-year warranty. If the device stops working and there’s no obvious damage, you can take it to any Apple Store for repair or replacement.

We wish Apple offered designs that complemented the iPhone 12, as a thick white puck stuck to the pack of the back of a blue or green iPhone 12 looks clunky. It would also be useful to have a USB-C port in addition to the Lightning port.