Five years ago today, on 13th October, Apple introduced the iPhone 12 series. Apple is now known for launching new iPhones every September, and that was the plan in 2020 as well. But if you remember, the world was in lockdown, and the usual September keynote had to be postponed to October.

Whilst the changes in the iPhone 12 series were mostly iterative, Apple brought back flat-edged sides for the first time since the iPhone 5s, and people loved it. It also introduced a smaller model, the iPhone 12 mini, for the first time, and people loved that too (although not enough for Apple to keep making mini-sized phones).

But the iPhone 12 wasn’t just about the new design or its mini-sized sibling. It also introduced something that didn’t seem like a big deal back then — MagSafe.

At first, it seemed like a simple idea: wireless charging, but with magnets to help align the phone perfectly on the charger. It wasn’t just about charging, though. Apple also showed how you could snap on accessories such as wallets, stands and cases. Five years later, MagSafe has quietly grown into one of the most useful ecosystems around.

There are now magnetic stands, tripods, wallets, notebooks, chargers, cases, battery packs and PopSockets — an entire market built around this single feature. What’s even more impressive is that plenty of non-iPhone cases for Samsung, Google and other Android phones now use the same circular arrangement of magnets. These let you attach your phone to accessories or charge it wirelessly, thanks to Qi charging.

I have quite a few green-bubble friends, and most of them use MagSafe-style cases on their Samsung phones. Next time you’re at a phone shop or a market stall, have a look — even Android cases now have that familiar magnetic ring on the back. Searching with “S25 Ultra case” on Amazon brings a lot of cases with MagSafe, you don’t even have to put in the word “MagSafe” on the search box.

Today, with Qi2 becoming the new standard, MagSafe’s influence is everywhere. Even Google’s latest Pixel phones have PixelSnap, their own version of magnetic charging and accessories. Yes, Google copied MagSafe, but who cares? When good ideas spread, everyone wins. I just hope more brands follow this path so the whole ecosystem can keep growing. Google now has access to the entire range of MagSafe accessories already out there, and that’s great news for both iPhone and Android users.

MagSafe, once a subtle addition, has grown into a thriving market and a genuine game-changer in smartphone accessories. It’s Apple at its best: taking an existing idea, in this case wireless charging, adding its own twist, and turning it into a new standard that everyone can (and should) use.

Looking back, most of us wouldn’t call the iPhone 12 series as groundbreaking as the iPhone that dropped the home button and went full display on the front, or the first iPhone with Touch ID, or the first with a 64-bit processor, or the one that had the courage to drop the headphone jack, or even the one that famously got left in a bar before launch. But the iPhone 12’s legacy is clear. It gave us MagSafe — and with it, the birth of an ecosystem that continues to evolve and expand across the entire smartphone industry.