MagSafe could get a makeover in iPhone 16

MagSafe could use a thinner ring of magnets in the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro, if alleged case-making molds are to be believed.

MagSafe uses a ring of magnets and an alignment magnet to make sure the charger lines up perfectly to its inner charging coil. While the design hasn't really changed since its introduction, it may get a tweak in the iPhone 16 lineup.

The new rumor stems from molds used in the production of cases for the iPhone 16 seen by ShopSystem. Pictures of the molds offer a few hints about the physical attributes of the next wave of iPhones.

The main change seen in the molds deals with MagSafe, with the thickness of both the ring and alignment sections a bit smaller than for the iPhone 15.

The change can have a number of impacts on the iPhone 16, such as requiring accessory vendors to modify their designs to fit. The change may also mean Apple is reducing the amount of magnetic material it's using, or simply adjusting the positioning.

Despite the narrowing, it is almost certain that existing MagSafe accessories will continue to work with the new models. While different in thickness, the positions of the magnets ultimately remain unchanged.

As well as the MagSafe change, the models also correlate with rumors the iPhone 16 and Plus will use the vertical camera arrangement.

This has been a long-time rumor that could lead to the iPhone 16 being able to record Spatial Video. Moving the cameras so two are next to each other is required for the format, which is currently viewable on the Apple Vision Pro.

Currently, the feature is available on the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

While the existence of the molds give a good idea of what the final iPhone could look like, they are still best-guesses. Case manufacturing molds or dummies are not propagated by Apple itself, and instead crafted from supply chain rumors.

There's no guarantee of what Apple's going to reveal in the Fall until the September special event itself.