I know. I'm going to sound like a crazy person. Apple spent a good hour getting us excited about their new product lineup earlier this week, starting with the HomePod Mini and the whole iPhone 12 family, and all I could think of the entire time I was watching that extremely well produced video was: "MagSafe !!!"
Apple spent quite some time talking about 5G connectivity, new glass, the A14 Bionic chip, new camera capabilities and so many other "significant" advances in technologies, and my mind was stuck on some sort of magnet.
What am I on about ? What is MagSafe ? Apple dusted off an old name for proprietary magnetically attached power connectors they used to equip older MacBook laptops with. Leaving aside the fact that the concept was pure genius, it didn't survive the move to USB-C. But earlier this week they told us we could now apply that name to another "magnetic" concept: what appears to be, at first, a means to charge your new iPhone 12 without plugging in a chord. It turns out it is much more than that. In essence the same built-in magnets that can charge your phone will also allow attaching cases, wallets or any other accessory you could dream up, easily and effortlessly. And of course Apple has already stacked (and stocked) their online and offline stores with cases, wallets, chargers, you name it. But why stop there. Assuming third party developers and designers get access to the specs, you could imagine holders, stands, car-mounts, camera gimbals, electronic door openers and who knows what else. An entire MagSafe industry could sprout around these new products Apple just introduced, and personally I can't wait to see what people are going to come up with. And, ultimately, I believe MagSafe on iPhone 12 models is the last step before Apple doing away with a charging and data connector of any kind on future iPhones, maybe as early as next year. Maybe by October of 2021 we'll start eulogising Lightning connectors and face a future where "plugging in" anything into our phone will sound "passé".
So yeah, I guess I am a little bit crazy.
