Today we have something interesting. Apple's been using wireless charging now for about 4 years,
but only recently did they start adding some pretty sweet looking magnets to the
back of their iPhones to facilitate the process. You can tell by the circle of
magnets that surround the outer edge of the copper induction coil. I'm a little biased,
of course, but I think it makes my Teardown Skin for the iPhone look super cool.
Well my channel's sponsor, Anker, decided to run with this new magnetic magsafe technology
and threw some equally strong magnets inside of one of their power banks.
So now there's no cords involved when you need some backup juice.
It lines up by itself and magnetically stays attached to the phone with some pretty good
force. Shaking it around from the phone side or even holding it by the charger, everything still
stays connected. Today we're going to find out how this sorcery works from the inside
and see if the PowerCore's magnets are oriented in the same direction as Apple's. Let's get started.
[Intro]
The PowerCore 5K is pretty small. We'll get to the internal battery in just a second
but the outside is covered with a grippy rubberized surface
and feels pretty solid. It's got a power button that will turn on the wireless charging ability,
and a few LED indicator lights that show how much charge is left inside of the bank, along
with an additional USB-C port to charge other devices that might not be magsafe compatible.
It looks like it only charges one device at a time. The wireless charging of the iPhone turns
off when I plug in my Note 10 Plus, but it is nice to have options. There's another larger wireless
power bank from Anker called the PowerCore 10K. It doesn't have the internal magnets, but it is
still wireless and can charge three things at the same time. But today we're after those magnets.
You might be asking yourself, 'Hey Jerry, how long do magnets even last?' And I'm
glad you asked. Magnets, like the ones found inside of the iPhone and the Anker PowerCore,
actually don't last forever. They lose about 1% of their holding power every hundred years or so.
So in like 5,000 years, we'll drop to about 50% of the original holding capacity. Hit that subscribe
button so you don't miss the video where we test that one out. You also might have noticed by now
that this power bank is not designed to come apart. There is a seam around the outer edge
and we're definitely making progress. But with everything glued shut, we need some brute force.
So far we see some cushy foam tape inside of that plastic housing,
kind of like the foam we saw inside of GM's electric hummer. And also, like that Hummer,
Anker's power bank is using a pouch style lithium battery, like we see in most cell
phones. 5,000 milliamp hours to be exact. And while this battery is indeed much larger than
the iPhone 12's internal battery, due to the energy lost while using inductive charging,
it'll be giving the iPhone about one full charge or 17 additional hours of video.
The underside of the power bank is where things start to get more interesting. This is where we
find the copper induction coil, as well as the neodymium magnets embedded into the back plastics.
Let's start with the magnets. Personally, I didn't notice that the magsafe charger
isn't just a circle of magnets. It's actually shaped like a flower, with a stem and then a
circle of petals up top. The magnet at the base making up the stem of the flower is
what keeps things aligned. And the circle part keeps things centered around that copper coil.
Thumbs up for that. Learn something new every day. And it does a pretty good
job. The tiny magnets from the power bank can support the full weight of the phone.
Magnets are pretty crazy. Let's see if the coil will still function without the magnets...and
it looks like it does. It doesn't lock on or center itself anymore,
but can still act as a normal wireless charging pad, even with the exterior now removed.
The coil itself is a bit thicker than the coils we normally find in smartphones,
probably because it's giving power instead of just receiving it. It can charge up the phone
at 5 watts, and looks like it's coated with some kind of soft, white material.
Overall it's pretty cool. Interesting to see a full on powerbank adapting to the magsafe
technology, even if it is only using 5 watts. If you want to charge faster, of course, Anker
does have their Nano 2, which packs 45 watts of juice into a small little package. Charging with a
cable is quite a bit more efficient than wireless charging, even if it is a little less futuristic.
Either way, I think it was cool to explore the insides. Let me know if you want me to take
apart one of those Nano 2's. I don't think we've ever done a charging brick before. Might be fun.
Come hang out with me on Instagram and Twitter. And thanks a ton for watching.
I'll see you around.