iPhone 17e's best upgrade is MagSafe and that's actually a big problem

I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't expecting a whole lot from the iPhone 17e launch earlier this week. Aside from the fact that most of the launch details leaked ahead of time, I was also very aware that there wasn't a whole lot Apple could really do, not without raising the price (again) or cannibalizing sales from the iPhone 17.

I say this because I find myself strangely ambivalent about the addition of MagSafe in the iPhone 17e. On the one hand, I'm very pleased that Apple has brought the technology to its cheapest phone. MagSafe has been around long enough that it isn't really a luxury, and, surprisingly, we haven't seen it on a cheaper model before.

But on the other hand, I have to remember that MagSafe has been around for a while and isn't exactly what I'd call new and exciting. Not on iPhone anyway. The fact that it's one of the main upgrades on iPhone 17e is indicative of how weak an upgrade it really is — to the point where I wonder whether it was really necessary to release the 17e at all.

The benefits of MagSafe

MagSafe is popular for a reason. It's an excellent addition to any iPhone, and it even inspired an Android-equivalent technology — better known as Qi2 wireless charging. It's not hard to see why people like MagSafe so much, even if it doesn't actually offer any of the same safety features as MagSafe on Macs.

The main benefit of MagSafe is, of course, that it's faster than standard Qi wireless charging. Twice as fast in the case of the iPhone 17e, which can wirelessly charge at up to 15W instead of the 7.5W afforded to the iPhone 16e and iPhone SE. MagSafe can go as high as 25W, but that's reserved for flagship iPhones like the iPhone 17.

On top of that, the magnets in the phone and charger ensure the magnetic coils are always correctly aligned. Not only does that mean no guesswork to ensure your phone starts charging correctly, but it improves the overall efficiency of the charging session. This means less energy is wasted as heat, which speeds up the charging process and stops your phone from getting hotter than it should.

Then, of course, you have the versatility of those magnets. They're not just for connecting to chargers; they can also be used to connect your iPhone 17e to a bunch of different accessories, without the need to use glue, awkward grips or those terrible stick-on magnets that are about as strong as a Post-It note.

The most obvious use cases are stands, like tripods and car mounts, though we've also seen magnetic battery packs, wallets and even a little suction pad that lets you stick your phone to any flat surface. Yeah, some of these accessories can get pretty creative.

The best part is it's all embedded inside your phone, to maintain that smooth, sleek back panel. Unlike the camera, there are no protruding components or bumps to worry about. It's an ideal upgrade for any phone and, thanks to the failure of Android phone makers to adopt Qi2, it's a feature Apple has almost exclusive rights to at the moment.

The iPhone 17e deserved more

It's rather cliché to say that Apple, or anyone else, simply releases the same phone every year. In fact, you only need to look at the Google Pixel 10a to see what a truly lazy hardware upgrade actually looks like. But then there are times when a new phone is launched and, for whatever reason, it just fails to justify its own existence. The iPhone 17e is one such phone.

I don't dislike the fact that Apple has added MagSafe to the 17e. In fact, it's definitely a good thing that the cheapest iPhone is not stuck with wireless charging tech that is over a decade old. But the fact that this is actually one of the few reasons to buy the iPhone 17e, over the likes of the iPhone 16e, just shows how little effort seems to have been put into the upgrade.

The only tangible differences between the 17e and 16e that have been revealed so far are that it has MagSafe, includes the latest (and strongest) version of Ceramic Shield display glass, alongside the A19 chipset. Oh, and it's available in a very light shade of pink. Which isn't really my style, but I won't judge if you disagree.

There may be some other changes as well, such as improved display tech or a slightly different battery, but for the most part, the iPhone 17e shares most of its makeup with the 16e. We're talking the same shape and design, no discernable differences to the camera hardware, the same 20W wired charging speeds and so on.

Last year, my former colleague Philip Michaels asked whether it was a smart idea to turn the iPhone e-series into an annual release. That may be a system that works for flagship iPhones and other devices, but there are plenty of products that benefit from taking a little longer between releases. iPhone SE was a great example, with gaps of two to three years between each generation. Heck, it's rare to see annual upgrades for iPads and some MacBooks.

The extended wait meant that when Apple releases a new generation, there was a little more on offer than just a new chipset and a couple of token upgrades. There's only so far you can carry a phone on the promise of better performance, especially if not much else has changed. Especially when you're charging a good $100 more than the rest of the best cheap phones that are on sale.

Bottom line

I'm glad that MagSafe is available on iPhone 17e. That was one of the most glaring omissions from the iPhone 16e, considering how much more expensive it was compared to the iPhone SE 3. But the fact that what has been a standard iPhone feature for many years can be celebrated as key addition to the 17e just shows how weak it actually is.

It's quite disappointing to see that Apple has joined the ranks of the Google Pixel 10a, Samsung Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus, offering nothing upgrades to its phones this year. Whether other phones will join them in the coming months isn't clear, but I doubt these three companies will be the only offenders.

Maybe it's time Apple took a step back on cheap iPhones, and went back to spreading their releases out a little more. Give it a few more years so that you always have a user base that is ready to upgrade to the latest model, and enough new features to actually justify them buying a brand new phone.

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