Undoubtedly, the most exciting thing offered in the iPhone 12 lineup is the ability to charge the phones wirelessly over the MagSafe connection. However, according to a newly updated Apple support document, Apple’s iPhone 12 mini will charge slower as compared with other sibling models over the company’s new initiative - MagSafe wireless charger.

The iPhone 12 lineup - iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and the iPhone 12 Pro Max all get charging speed upto 15W and are compatible with the company's optional MagSafe charger, but the iPhone 12 mini has the slowest charging rate of 12W and receives a downgraded charging experience. It will charge about 20 percent slower than its other variants with the MagSafe charger. Though this sounds like a big disappointment, it is known to be faster than the 7.5W of charging one would get from a standard Qi wireless charger. Apple says that if you want to reach the peak power charging efficiency of 12W, you will require a USB-C Power Delivery adapter which is atleast 9V/2.03A for the desired output.

In terms of comparing the design and specifications of iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini has similar specifications as the iPhone 12 which includes Apple’s A14 Bionic chip, support for 5G connectivity, a dual-camera system, but all fit into a smaller body with a 5.4-inch screen. 

Apple also notes that the charging efficiency can get affected by the temperature or the system activity. In other words, Apple states that “actual power delivered by the iPhone will vary depending on the wattage of the power adapter and system conditions with factors such as the temperature and system activity taken under note”. Apple has not stated any specific reason why the iPhone 12 mini would charge at a slower speed as compared with the sibling models but if we were to make a guess, we would assume that it has to do something with the limiting heat emitted via the wireless charging and promoting long-term battery health.

The support document released by Apple goes on to state a few details which are important to iPhone 12 variant owners who decide to use the MagSafe charging. Apple says it's recommended to connect the MagSafe adapter to a power source before placing it on the back of your iPhone. In fact, doing this in reverse order may result in the adapter delivering a less-than-optimal level of power to the handset. Also, it’s worth noting that even the other variants such as the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro might not benefit much from the charging speed if they are already too hot, or if the accessories such as the wired EarPods are connected to the device.

While slower charging via one method of powering up your phone might not be responsible for making or breaking your decision for your next iPhone, it is useful and important information to know this if you were planning on picking up the MagSafe accessories. If the mini can get away with slower power delivery while ranking high on the charts just as quickly as other models, it seems that the reduction in the wattage is not much of a concern or too noticeable to the end users. Hence, we can say that MagSafe is one of the iPhone 12’s big new features, offering simple and convenient wireless charging but it's a pity it's also so slow.