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Apple iPhone 12: Don't put a credit card between the iPhone and the charger

2020-11-20T14:27:25.622Z


Apple warned to keep bank cards and the like away from the new iPhone, according to media reports. In fact, it's a little more complicated and also less dramatic.


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Yes, there are magnets inside: An iPhone 12 Pro Max on the Magsafe charger

Photo: Matthias Kremp / DER SPIEGEL

With the iPhone 12 in its four variants, Apple has also introduced a new wireless charging technology called Magsafe.

The name says it all, there are magnets involved.

Each of the new iPhones has a circular and three parallel bar magnets in its back.

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A special film makes the magnetic fields in an iPhone 12 Pro Max visible

Photo: Matthias Kremp / DER SPIEGEL

On the one hand, this construction should help to connect Apple's smartphones with the new wireless Magsafe chargers in such a way that optimal power transmission is possible.

On the other hand, it should magnetically attach accessories to the back of the devices.

For example, Apple itself has presented a so-called wallet, a small leather case for credit or business cards.

On Thursday, a message made the rounds that Apple advised that cards with magnetic strips or RFID chips, especially credit and access cards, be kept away from the iPhone 12.

The wallet would be a bad idea.

The idea is not completely absurd, after all, there is always danger for such cards where magnets are involved.

But Apple's warning is different.

On a support page for charging the new iPhones via Magsafe, which was published at the beginning of November, the company only warns against placing credit cards and the like between the Magsafe charger and the iPhone, “as their magnetic strips or RFID chips could be damaged. «  

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For Apple, the beginning of a potentially lucrative accessory market: iPhone 12 with Magsafe wallet and the matching Magsafe charger on the table

Photo: Matthias Kremp / DER SPIEGEL

It is also advised to remove “sensitive objects of this type” from the phone case, or to ensure “that they are not between the charger and the back of the iPhone” before charging an iPhone 12 via Magsafe.

So if you don't carry your credit card in your wallet, pocket or other suitable container, but squeeze it between your mobile phone and case, you should take it out before wireless charging.

While the normal coexistence of iPhone 12 and credit cards does not seem to pose a threat, one should rather heed another hint from Apple.

On another support site, the company actually advises caution when handling the iPhone 12 in connection with medical devices.

Which devices Apple means specifically is not explained.

So-called pacemakers could be one of them, the German Medical Journal warned years ago that certain magnets could pose a danger to these devices.

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Apple itself writes, "Magnets and electromagnetic fields can interfere with medical devices such as pacemakers and defibrillators." However, it should not be assumed that the additional magnets in the iPhone 12 "pose a greater risk of magnetic interference in medical devices than earlier iPhone models. «

However, Apple apparently does not want to completely rule out risks and therefore advises users of medical devices to ask their doctor or the respective manufacturer whether they recommend a safe distance between the iPhone and the device in question.

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mak

Source: spiegel

All tech articles on 2020-11-20

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