Apple ‘Magic Charger’ Was Purportedly In The Works But The Company Scrapped It

When a new product is released by Apple, it often becomes an object of fascination. However, the company doesn’t get it right all the time. Case in point: the ‘Apple Magic Charger’, as it is believed to have been named.

During R&D, prototypes and spare parts are bound to be handed down the supply chain. Collectors in China, the country where a lot of its manufacturing takes place, have obtained Design Validation Test (DVT) models of this ‘Magic Charger’. Leaker DuanRui has shared some photos of the canceled product on Twitter.

MagSafe Charger pic.twitter.com/ElQM5yDbjh

— DuanRui (@duanrui1205) November 15, 2022

This MagSafe charger was a could’ve-been. According to AppleInsider, the item was in its final stage of testing and certification before it was killed.

The accessory, featuring a circular magnetic charging point with a “squircle” frame that could be popped open like a porthole, would purportedly make the screen visible while the iPhone was being juiced up.

Chinese hobbyists who have gotten their hands on the unfinished charger are apparently trying to make it work again.

It’s said that Apple abandoned the idea because the iPhone could only be held in landscape orientation while it was charging, since there was no space to prop it up vertically.

The tech giant might have been right to call it the Magic Charger. Now you see it, now you don’t.

[via AppleInsider and Macworld, images via various sources]