Abstract created by Good Solutions AI
In abstract:
- Macworld debunks a viral TikTok video with over 17 million views falsely claiming the iPhone 18 will characteristic a MacBook-style MagSafe charging port as an alternative of USB-C.
- The rumor seems to confuse iPhone’s present wi-fi MagSafe expertise with MacBook’s magnetic energy connector, creating an impractical charging idea.
- Apple is anticipated to retain USB-C on future iPhones attributable to EU rules mandating the usual for smartphones and sensible connectivity wants.
Most iPhone followers are at the moment centered on the approaching launch of the iPhone 17e, which may very well be right here in a matter of days. However one doubtful rumor doing the rounds on social media proper now considerations a flagship telephone from the subsequent era. It’s only a disgrace that it’s nearly actually mistaken.
This TikTok video, which on the time of writing has been considered greater than 17 million instances, purports to point out the charging port of the iPhone 18. (Or “iPhone18,” because it’s labelled by the clearly educated maker.) However reasonably than the USB-C port, which has been used on all Apple smartphones because the iPhone 15 in 2023, the animation reveals one thing extra akin to the MagSafe connector that seems on newer MacBooks.

This video may look cool, nevertheless it’s not going to occur.
TikTok
The charging cable, which has a reasonably good black braided twine, attaches through a magnetic connection. When it’s in place a inexperienced LED lights up on the charger head, and a small inexperienced lightning bolt is proven on the backside of the beforehand clean telephone display. (By no means thoughts that iPhones don’t behave like this; it’s the least of our worries.) It appears to be like similar to the MagSafe cable on my 2021 MacBook Professional, besides with three pins as an alternative of 5 and a chunkier physique.
Now, the video doesn’t record its sources; we don’t get the standard “supply-chain sources” or “individuals with information of the matter.” It’s simply an animation. So in some methods it’s fairly troublesome to refute: the place did this info come from? Who mentioned this was doubtless? Is that this merely an idea that an illustrator dreamed up, like this animation from the identical channel exhibiting attainable iPhone 18 Professional colours?
Regardless of the video’s intention, it’s getting main traction from viewers who suppose it’s actual. A fast flick thru a handful of the 9,700-odd feedback reveals viewer after viewer complaining about Apple’s foolishness in doing this, or the impracticality of the design. A number of look like Android followers mocking iPhone customers for his or her misfortune. I couldn’t discover any feedback stating that that is terribly unlikely to occur.
As a result of, as a number of commenters argue, it wouldn’t be a sensible resolution. It could disconnect very simply, and in contrast to on the MacBook, disconnecting simply isn’t needed to guard it from a selected kind of accident. It could annoy clients and equipment makers. And it may create issues with the EU, who mandated USB-C connectors on all smartphones offered in its territory.
What might have occurred is that somebody has bought confused between MagSafe on the iPhone and MagSafe on the Mac. They’re each charging requirements that use a magnetic connection to maintain the charging factors in place, however in most different respects they’re completely completely different. (For instance, the telephone’s magnetic connection is stronger in order that it stays linked in the event you nudge the machine, whereas the laptop computer is designed to detach in the event you journey on the wire.) The iPhone 17 already has the telephone model of MagSafe, and the iPhone 18 will too, however that doesn’t imply it would have the Mac model as effectively. If nothing else, it will be enormously complicated.
Whereas the iPhone 17e is anticipated to be right here in time for Apple’s “expertise” on March 4, the primary 18-series iPhones gained’t arrive till September. And the precise iPhone 18, the cheaper baseline mannequin, won’t flip up till the next spring. So bookmark our iPhone 18 superguide to maintain up with all the most recent information and rumors.