Mike Peterson
Apple has enabled charging speeds of up to 7.5W on its MagSafe Battery Pack in the latest firmware update for the iPhone accessory, which was released on Tuesday.
The firmware update was released on April 19 as an over-the-air update. While patch notes weren't provided at the time, Apple has since updated a support document to clarify that the update brings an improved charging rate.
"In order to get 7.5W charging on the go, update your MagSafe Battery Pack to the latest firmware," Apple writes. "The firmware update begins automatically after you attach your battery pack to your iPhone. The firmware update can take about one week."
Previously, the MagSafe Battery Pack topped out at 5W of charging — about the same as Apple's ubiquitous power brick that's no longer included with devices.
Users can check which firmware version they have on a connected iPhone by heading to Settings > General > About > MagSafe Battery Back. The firmware update that enables 7.5W charging is version 2.7.b.0.
Apple first launched the MagSafe Battery Pack in July 2021 for the iPhone 12, but it is also compatible with iPhone 13 devices. At the time, some users were disappointed by the charging speeds since other MagSafe accessories can provide up to 15W of charging output.
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11 Comments
If you plug the battery into a MacBook, iMac, or iPad (Air or Pro), the update can take just a few minutes.
Mine updated in minutes yesterday once I disconnect and then reconnected it to my iPhone 13P and then checked the battery status in Settings. I think the "up to one week" note refers to simply automatically updating without doing any checking as then the servers will have to locate the device for the update.