Apple continues its development program that, officially, intends to best serve its customers but, somewhat unofficially, drives the perceived need for expensive add-ons.

The latest is the idea of a magnet/battery pack.

This product enhancement idea, reported in a Bloomberg story, is primarily another iPhone charging accessory that – by the magnet’s power – attaches to the phones using MagSafe technology.

The pack is not believed to be intended as a protective case, however, and despite perhaps hopeful engineers, Bloomberg reports, the iPhone lineup is unlikely to receive support for products to charge eachother.

Various challenges continue to plague progress, and a release doesn’t appear imminent.

The attachment has been under development for at least a year, and the targeted release was to have been on the heels of the October introduction of the iPhone 12 products, according to people in the Bloomberg story with knowledge of the landscape.

During testing, the magnetic attachment system proved strong enough for the charging unit to stay in place, but the accessory’s development has been slowed by software issues such as the iPhone mistakeny warning that the pack is overheating. 

Sources not authorized to speak on the product because it is not yet public said the myriad developmental hurdles are not easily overcome and that the new accessory could be further delayed or eliminated.

An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment to Bloomberg.

In 2017, Apple’s AirPower mat was in development to provide charging of the Apple Watch, iPhone and AirPods earphones at the same time, but was discarded in 2019 because of problems associated with overheating.

The continued push for accessories and wearables is understandable, with Bloomberg reporting that Apple’s watches, cases, AirPods, speakers and related add-ons producing about $13 billion — 12% of total company sales — last quarter.

Add comment