Jiří Filip At this year's September Keynote, we not only saw the unveiling of new generations of iPhones, iPads or Apple Watch, but also accessories in the form of the MagSafe Wallet. Although it has retained the design of the first version, it is now compatible with the Find network, which should make it very difficult to lose. But is this the case in the real world? I will try to answer exactly that in the following lines, as Mobil Emergency has sent us a magnetic wallet to the editorial office. So what is it really like?
Packaging, design and processing
Apple did not experiment with the packaging of the new generation MagSafe Wallet either. So the wallet will arrive in the same design box as the first generation Wallet, which in other words means a small white paper "drawer" box with a picture of the wallet on the front and information on the back. As for the contents of the package, in addition to the wallet, you will also find a small folder with a manual for the product, but in the end there is absolutely no need to study it. You could hardly find a more intuitive product.
Gallery
Evaluating the design of the MagSafe Wallet is a purely subjective matter, so please take the following lines with due caution. They will only reflect my personal feelings and opinions, which are entirely positive. We received a specifically dark ink variant that is de facto black, and which looks really great in person. So if you like the black Apple skin, you'll find something here. As for the other color variants, there are also golden brown, dark cherry, redwood green and lilac purple available, which gives you the opportunity to combine the colors of your iPhone exactly according to your taste.
The wallet itself is relatively heavy (considering how small it is) and also quite hard and solid, which means it holds its shape very well even when there is nothing in it. Its processing can withstand the toughest demands - you would hardly look for an imperfection on it that would throw you off balance. Whether we're talking about the leather edges or the stitches that connect the front and back of the wallet, everything is made with attention to detail and quality, which makes the wallet look really successful. Apple simply won't deny it.
Testing
The Apple MagSafe Wallet 2nd generation is compatible with all iPhones 12 (Pro) and 13 (Pro), with the fact that it is available in a single size that fits both the back of the iPhone mini and the Pro Max without any problems. I personally tried it on both the 5,4" iPhone 13 mini, the 6,1" iPhone 13 and the 6,7" iPhone 13 Pro Max, and it looked really nice on all of them. What's nice about the smallest model is that it exactly copies its lower back, and thanks to that it blends in perfectly with the phone. The nice thing about the rest of the models is that when you clip them to their backs and hold the phones in your hand, in addition to the phone and the sides of the phone, you also partially hold the glass back on the sides of the wallet, which can give someone a feeling of a more secure grip. So it definitely cannot be said that it would be completely pointless for any model.
Personally, I've used the wallet the most on my personal iPhone 13 Pro Max, which has stuck with it without any issues. The wallet is relatively narrow, thanks to which there is no extreme hump on the back of the phone that one would not be able to hide in the palm of the hand and still use the phone comfortably. It's also great that the MagSafe technology (in other words, magnets) can attach the wallet to the back of the phone really firmly, so I'm not afraid to say that it can often even serve as a kind of handle for a more comfortable grip rather than being a nuisance.
Gallery
If you are wondering how much can actually fit into the Wallet, know that it is relatively enough. You can comfortably stuff three classic cards into it, or two classic cards and a folded banknote. Personally, I carry either my ID, driver's license and insurance card in it, or ID, driver's license and some cash, which is absolutely ideal for me personally, because I rarely need more than that, and when I do, it's more convenient for me to take the whole wallet with me. As for removing cards or bills from the Wallet, unfortunately, there is no other convenient way than to always detach it from the iPhone and use the back hole to gradually slide out what you need. It's nothing complicated, but personally I wouldn't mind if the contents of the wallet could simply be "pulled" from the front as well, although I understand that Apple didn't want to put holes here due to the design.
By far the most interesting (and actually the only) innovation of the second generation Apple MagSafe Wallet is its integration into the Find network. This is done in an extremely simple way, specifically by simply attaching the wallet to your iPhone after unpacking (or the iPhone under which the wallet is to be assigned). Once you've done so, you'll see a pairing animation similar to that of the Apple Watch, AirPods or HomePods, with all you have to do is confirm the integration with Find and you're done. Once you agree to everything, the wallet will appear in Find along with your name - in my case, as the wallet of the user Jiří. Its operation is then an extremely simple matter.
Every time you clip the wallet to your iPhone, MagSafe recognizes it (which you can tell by the haptic feedback, among other things) and starts displaying its location in Find It. At the same time, you can set a notification to disconnect and display your phone number in case you lose your wallet. As soon as the wallet is disconnected from the phone, the iPhone notifies you with a haptic response and a minute countdown starts, after which you will receive a notification on your phone that the wallet has been disconnected and where it happened. It is then up to you whether you ignore the notification, because you disconnected the wallet and will connect it again soon, or you really lost it and go in search of it thanks to the notification. Of course, there is the option of setting a place where the phone will not report disconnection, which is useful, for example, at home.
Gallery
I have to say that both tracking the location of the connected wallet via Find, as well as the notifications that go to the iPhone a minute after disconnection, work really perfectly and there is not much to improve. It is also nice to be able to navigate to the place where you lost your wallet, making the search easier. However, what surprised me and somewhat disappointed me is the absence of a notification to disconnect the wallet on the Apple Watch. They don't mirror the disconnection, which is rather stupid, because I personally perceive the vibrations of the watch on my wrist outside much more intensely than the vibrations of the phone in my pocket. Another thing that makes me a little sad is the inclusion of the wallet in Find in the Devices section and not in the Items section. I wouldn't even think that a wallet in Items would make more sense. However, if it was in Items, it would be possible to set it in the Find widget on the iPhone's desktop, for example, and thus have an overview of it at all times, which is not possible now. It's a shame, but in both cases, fortunately, we're only talking about software limitations, which Apple can solve in the future with a simple update, and I believe that it will happen. After all, the current solutions are not meaningful at all.
However, in order not to sputter, I have to say that the positives of the Najít network outweigh the negatives. As I already wrote above, after pairing the wallet with your Apple ID, it can be set to display your phone number in case of loss, which seems like a really useful gadget. In order for the phone number to be displayed, it is necessary for someone to put the wallet on their iPhone with MagSafe, which reduces the chance of finding it in a way, but it is still much higher than in the case of the first generation Wallet, which did not have this feature at all, because it was from the product point of view de facto on the same level as ordinary covers. In addition, if you enable it, your phone number will be displayed in the finder almost immediately after deployment, so it cannot happen that he missed it. In addition, the interface that displays the number directly offers the possibility of quick contact, which is definitely nice. It's just a pity that the wallet is not able to use "foreign" Bluetooths to communicate in the Find network, just like other Apple products, and therefore won't let you know about itself in the event that someone else puts it on (and thus their phone starts communicating with the Wallet in a certain way). So, at least in my case, nothing like that worked.
The funny thing about the whole product is that you have to delete it from Find if you donate or sell it from your Apple ID. Otherwise, it will still be assigned to your Apple ID and no one else will be able to fully use it as their wallet in Find. Gone are the days when you could do whatever you want with accessories without the need for any major "maintenance".
Summary
Bottom line, I personally like Apple's Find-enabled MagSafe Wallet concept overall, and I think it's exactly the upgrade the first generation needed to make it a hit this year. On the other hand, we still have a few illogicalities that personally both annoy and sadden me when using Wallet, because they make it impossible to use this product as intuitively as one would like. So we can only hope that Apple will wise up and, in one of the future versions of iOS, will bring the wallet exactly where it deserves. In my opinion, it has really great potential.
Technically, you can't fit this overpriced wallet, so what's the point in the finale? minimalistic masturbation