It’s not just the popular devices getting a refresh by Apple this week, as an accessory sees a change, as well.
Losing your wallet mightn’t be so risky as Apple unveils a wallet that can be found just like a phone or one of Apple’s AirTags.
The idea came alongside the launch of the new iPhone models, the iPhone 13 and 13 Mini and the more premium iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max, all of which support the MagSafe magnetic ring technology Apple announced last year.
While MagSafe is predominantly there to provide a magnetically-attached wireless charging technology, it’s also a way to connect accessories, such as a special wallet Apple makes. Last year’s wallet clipped on via MagSafe and provided a way to store a couple of cards extra for your phone, things perhaps your phone couldn’t yet handle over Apple Pay, but this year, even that wallet is getting a slight update.
In 2021, the iPhone Wallet with MagSafe will come with support for Apple’s “Find My”, meaning the wallet itself is connected to your Apple ID and able to be tracked like a phone or an AirTag in much the same way.
And the reason for this is simple: if your wallet gets lost, you may want to find it again.
As far as we know, there’s no battery attached to this device, so the $95 MagSafe Wallet is very likely pulling your last location from being connected to your phone, meaning the last place your phone dropped it is the last place it is probably going to store a location. That’ll be fine if you left it in the street, but not in someone’s car or cab, because they’re moving, as there’s no power source to provide that real-time tracking a powered Find My device can add.
There’s another catch for the iPhone Wallet, as it does need iOS 15 to work on the iPhone 12 or iPhone 13 models (or anything else in the future that supports MagSafe), so that Find My tech won’t work with Mophie’s MagSafe-esque Snap adaptor on Android, nor will it work with an iPhone 12 Clear MagSafe Case.
Oh, and there’s one minor thing: if you do lose your wallet and try to find it again, you better hope your cards are still inside. You may find some nice people in the world who won’t take things, but lost wallets still come with the risk of losing what’s inside, so take care all the same.
