How to update MagSafe Battery Pack for faster iPhone charge

Pocket-lint

How to update Apple's MagSafe Battery Pack to charge your iPhone faster

By Britta O'Boyle

Updated Apr 23, 2022

Here's how to update your Apple MagSafe Battery Pack to the latest firmware to charge your iPhone faster and how to get the most out of the pack.

Pocket-lint

Apple's MagSafe Battery Pack is compatible with the company's iPhone 12 models and the iPhone 13 models. It snaps on the back of any of these devices and conveniently tops up the battery when you're on the go, or when connected to a power source.

Originally, the MagSafe Battery Pack was only able to deliver 5W charging speeds when portable so it would take a little while to charge your iPhone. A firmware update has changed that though.

The MagSafe Battery Pack is now able to deliver 7.5W charging speeds, giving your iPhone juice that little bit faster when you're on the move. It will also offer 15W charging to your iPhone when connected to a power source.

Here's how to update your MagSafe Battery Pack to the latest firmware and how to use it.

How to update your MagSafe Battery Pack's firmware

There are a couple of ways you can update your MagSafe Battery Pack to the latest firmware. The easiest (but not the fastest) is simply to attach the MagSafe Battery Pack to the back of your compatible iPhone and it will update over time. Apple has said it will take around a week if you do it this way though.

Alternatively, you can connect your MagSafe Battery Pack to an iPad or a Mac. To update the firmware using a Mac or iPad, plug one end of a Lightning to USB-C cable into the Lightning connector on your battery pack, and the other end into your Mac or iPad. The firmware update will take about 5 minutes.

How to check your MagSafe Battery Pack's firmware

For your MagSafe Battery Pack to deliver 7.5W charging speeds when portable, it needs to be running firware version 2.7.

To check the firware version of your MagSafe Battery Pack, head to Settings > General > About > MagSafe Battery Pack. You'll need your MagSafe Battery Pack attached to your iPhone for it to appear.

How to check the battery status of your MagSafe Battery Pack

If you want to know how much juice you have in your MagSafe Battery Pack, you'll want to add the batteries widget to your Today View or your Home Screen. First up, make sure you are running iOS 14.7 or later. After you've done that, follow the steps below:

Head to Today View (swipe left to right from the Home Screen page) or head to the Home Screen page where you want to add the batteries widget
Touch and hold the background until the apps begin to jiggle
Tap the "+" in the top left corner of the screen to open the widget gallery
Scroll or search to find 'Batteries'
Tap on the Batteries widget and swipe left through the size options. The different sizes display different information.
When you see the size you want, tap 'Add Widget'
Tap 'Done'

When you attach the MagSafe Battery Pack to your iPhone, it will automatically appear in the Batteries widget and you'll be able to see how much battery it has. You can charge both the MagSafe Battery Pack and your iPhone at the same time if you attach the battery pack and then plug in the Lightning connector.

What iPhone's are compatible with the MagSafe Battery Pack?

The Apple MagSafe Battery Pack requires MagSafe to attach so it is only compatible with the iPhone 12 models and the iPhone 13 models. You can therefore use the MagSafe Battery Pack with any of the following iPhone models: