After introducing MagSafe to the iPhone nearly four years ago, Apple has announced an upgrade to its wireless charging standard for the iPhone 16 With this upgrade, all four new iPhone models will support wireless charging up to 25W Here's what you need to know

Naturally, existing MagSafe chargers will not magically be able to provide faster wireless charging with the iPhone 16 You will need to physically upgrade to one of the new MagSafe charging pads, which can be purchased at the Apple Store for prices starting at $40

This is the same price Apple charged for the old MagSafe charger, which was one of the best wireless chargers, and is no longer listed on the Apple Store website Other retailers can still get them, and once the new pads come in, you may be able to find them at a discounted price

But the expense doesn't end with the $40 pad The old MagSafe chargers only required a 20W charging brick to reach full speed, while the new ones require a 30W charging brick Because of Apple, these are sold separately This means you may need to purchase a faster adapter - assuming you don't already have one Apple recommends using its own USB-C power adapter, which costs at least $39

Of course, any 30W USB-C power brick will work fine, and you don't have to be limited by the 30W speed, which is helpful if you already have a faster power adapter It doesn't matter if it's an Apple-branded one for other products (such as MacBooks) or a third-party one; Ikea sells a 30W USB-C charger for just $8, which is not only cheap, but surprisingly compact compared to many brands of 30W charging bricks

Before you place your order, you should know a few more things: first, that these new MagSafe charging pads are backward compatible and will work absolutely fine with older iPhones and accessories - whether they support MagSafe or not That is Of course, they are limited by existing wireless charging limitations, which may be as low as 75W for some older models

This means that non-iPhones should be able to charge wirelessly using regular Qi wireless charging However, the speed will probably be limited to 75W Apple also confirmed that the charger is compatible with the Qi2 standard Apple has not stated the speed of Qi2 charging, but it will not be faster than 15W

Pre-orders for the iPhone 16 will open on September 13 (this Friday) and it will officially go on sale a week later on September 20 We haven't spent much time with this model yet, but you can read our initial impressions of all four models in our iPhone 16 Hands-on Review and iPhone 16 Pro & iPhone 16 Pro Max Hands-on Reviews