MACSTORIES EXTRAS

More stories for Club members.

Extending the iPhone with MagSafe and USB-C

• John

I started my day wondering what I should write about for Weekly, when my eyes fell on an iPad clamp I recently bought. It’s not anything special. There are lots of similar options on Amazon where I got it, but what drew me to this particular model was its inclusion of 1/4” screw mounts in two locations, which make it easy to use with a variety of camera gear where that size connector (along with 3/8”) has become a standard photographers can rely on. Simply by using that standard, even this otherwise generic iPad clamp is more valuable.

That got me thinking about two aspects of the iPhone where the same sort of phenomenon has emerged: MagSafe and USB-C. It’s been four years since MagSafe was introduced with the iPhone 12. Since then, it has become part of the Qi2 charging standard, broadening the market for any company making compatible charging accessories.