Will iPhone 12’s MagSafe Wallet Demagnetize Your Credit Cards?

Apple recently announced its new feature-packed smartphone lineup, including the iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max. The entire iPhone 12 lineup comes with the latest A14 Bionic SoC and has 5G UWB support built-in.

However, another useful thing that Apple has added to all the 2020 iPhone models is the MagSafe charging standard that allows wireless chargers and other iPhone accessories to attach to the back of the iPhone magnetically. For instance, you can stick a MagSafe compatible $59 iPhone leather wallet and keep all credit cards at ease.

Under the hood, a series of magnets are present around the wireless charging coil inside the iPhone. The magnets allow the iPhone to correctly align itself when using a wireless charger, a problem that many users face and end up placing their device the wrong way.

The MagSafe brand has previously existed for magnetic charging connectors found on previous Mac computers. But it slowly vanished after Apple started replacing MagSafe with USB-C to charge the devices.

Anyway, regarding MagSafe iPhone 12 models, one big concern or doubt some people have is whether the magnet-powered iPhone wallet may demagnetize credit cards or other magnet-based plastic cards.

Thankfully, that’s not going to happen. As spotted by Mashable, Apple mentions on the iPhone wallet product page that “the leather wallet is shielded, so it’s safe for credit cards.”

There is no problem with credit cards having chips instead of magnetic strips.

The shield on the MagSafe-compatible iPhone Wallet takes care of both High Coercivity (HiCo) and Low Coercivity (LoCo) cards, where HiCo cards are less prone to demagnetization due to their strong magnetic field. Mostly, credit cards and debit cards are HiCo, whereas visitor badges and hotel keycards fall under the LoCo category.

The publication notes that the iPhone Wallet should provide the same protection level as a standard wallet placed next to an iPhone, if not less. So, you can rest assured that you won’t be left stranded at some supermarket struggling to make the payment.