The iPhone 17e proves MagSafe charging speeds do not matter

I didn’t have excessive expectations after I began testing Apple’s new iPhone 17e. Final yr’s iPhone 16e struck me as a lopsided mess, and this yr’s alternative appears to have lots of the similar points: a quicker processor and extra RAM than is absolutely essential at this worth level, and too many compromises in different areas. However at the least a kind of compromises is now worrying me lots much less.

One of many fundamental shortcomings of the 16e was the truth that it didn’t have MagSafe in any respect, and I proceed to treat that as a big ache within the butt. The 17e, followers have been relieved to find when it was unveiled earlier this month, does have MagSafe… however the sting within the tail got here after we realized that it’s a slower, older model of the expertise, which is capped at 15W reasonably than the most recent 25W. Right here we go once more, I believed: one other e-class annoyance.

Why this makes a distinction

To see what impact that has on real-world charging speeds, I fully drained the batteries of each my iPhone 17e evaluate unit and the trusty iPhone 17 I’ve had since September. Then one after the other, I positioned them on an official Apple MagSafe charging puck, paired with a 67W energy adapter to make sure no bottlenecks at that finish, and timed how lengthy it took to fill them up once more. I received’t sugarcoat it: there was a considerable distinction, and the 17 got here out on high.

The topline discovering is that the iPhone 17e takes simply over three hours (3:03) to fully cost wirelessly, whereas the iPhone 17 can do the identical factor in somewhat over two (2:06). To be fully truthful I ought to level out that the 17e has a barely bigger battery capability, at 4,005mAh vs 3,692mAh, so it has extra work to do. However because it doesn’t provide you with any additional battery life, I’d regard that because the 17e’s drawback, and never one thing we needs to be anticipated to make allowances for.

A extra related metric, nonetheless, could be the time taken to succeed in 80 p.c, because it’s higher for long-term battery well being should you don’t cost to full each time, and people below time stress in all probability don’t must hassle with the (a lot slower) final 20 p.c. On that rating, the iPhone 17e took roughly 2 hours and 15 minutes, whereas the iPhone 17 managed it in roughly 1 hour and 15 minutes. Once more, that’s an enormous differential and some extent within the iPhone 17’s favor.

So to be clear, in case your precedence is to purchase an iPhone that may wirelessly cost as quick as doable, the iPhone 17 is unquestionably a greater possibility than the 17e. However the extra I take advantage of the 17e, the extra I realise that, inside motive, wi-fi charging velocity isn’t an enormous deal.

Why the distinction doesn’t matter

What’s the purpose of magnetic wi-fi charging? It’s extra handy. Placing a telephone on a magnetic puck is a faster and fewer fiddly motion than both plugging it right into a cable or rigorously putting it on a non-magnetic puck’s candy spot and hoping it stays there. While you repeat an motion one or two instances a day, even small reductions in friction add up. Small conveniences are simple to take with no consideration, however spending somewhat time with out MagSafe reminds you that it’s value having.

When can we cost our telephones? Loads of the time it occurs in a single day: my MagSafe puck sits by my mattress. So, for this use case, the velocity doesn’t actually matter. Supplied it’s quick sufficient to cost from zero to one hundred pc in seven or eight hours, the expertise has completed its job. The 17e, with its lowly 15W speeds, does the job in lower than half that.

There’ll, in fact, be eventualities the place velocity does matter: whenever you’re about to hurry out the door, for instance, and desperately need to bump your telephone from 10 p.c to 40 p.c or in order rapidly as doable. However below these circumstances, most individuals would select to plug in. Apple reckons the iPhone 17e can get from zero to 50 p.c in half an hour with a 20W wired adapter, which needs to be loads quick. (Granted, the iPhone 17 can do the identical factor in simply 20 minutes should you’ve received a 40W adapter, however that’s nothing to do with the model of MagSafe it has.)

My emotions might but change over the approaching weeks and months, however proper now the iPhone 17e’s slower MagSafe strikes me as a non-issue. After all, it could be good to have the quicker wi-fi charging speeds, however you may’t have all the things on the cheaper price factors, and this can be a comparatively painless space to compromise. When you’re charging wirelessly, you in all probability don’t care very a lot about velocity, and should you care very a lot about velocity, you’re in all probability not charging wirelessly.

Gaining MagSafe is a serious improve in comparison with the 16e. Getting quicker MagSafe can be a a lot smaller improve, which maybe we’ll get on the 18e. However for now, that is one much less factor for me to complain about in my evaluate.