iPad Pro 2024 tipped to support MagSafe, but that could come with some downsides

Cable free with less durability

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If you want to wirelessly charge an iPad, then, well, you’re out of luck, because evenApple’s top tablets like theiPad Pro 12.9 (2022)only support wired charging. But theiPad Pro 2024might finally add wireless to the mix.

MacRumorsclaims – citing a source that’s “familiar with companies that manufacture magnets for Apple products” – that the iPad Pro 2024 might support MagSafe charging.

This is the first we’ve heard of the feature coming to the iPad Pro 2024, but we had previously heard rumors of MagSafe for earlier iPads, which ultimately didn’t get it.

So on the one hand, this leak could be wrong again, but on the other, the fact that it has been rumored for multiple slates suggests Apple might at least be experimenting with the feature.

A durability downgrade

However, you can’t use wireless charging through metal, which is what current iPads are clad in, so if MagSafe does come to the iPad Pro 2024, that might mean it will have a glass back, much like the MagSafe-supportingiPhone 15line.

That’s certainly possible, as we recently heard from Mark Gurman (an Apple tipster with a good track record) thatthe iPad Pro 2024 would have a revamped design. They didn’t specify what that meant, but a glass back could certainly be considered a revamp.

A glass back also has downsides though, as it would make the upcoming iPad less durable than current models. So you’d be gaining a feature but would be more likely to break the tablet if you dropped or banged it.

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In any case, if MagSafe is offered it would likely mean the iPad Pro 2024 would wirelessly charge at 15W, just like thebest iPhones. Though that’s rather slow, especially given the large batteries present in tablets.

It would probably also support other MagSafe accessories, and MacRumors theorizes that it would support 15W Qi2 wireless chargers as well.

All that said, the site notes that there’s a chance the iPad Pro would use a Mac-like magnetic charger rather than the iPhone’s MagSafe implementation. Both are referred to as MagSafe but in the case of the Mac it’s magnetically connecting a cable, so it’s not wireless. That would be a lot less interesting but would also allow the iPad Pro to retain a metal back.

We’ll likely find out which if either of these implementations are used soon, as leaks suggest the iPad Pro 2024 could land early next year.

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James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.

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